Happy New Year to all of you! I don’t know about you, but I am ready for a great year and I hope 2018 is a glorious year for each of you, too.
What does 2018 hold for us? I have already made my list of things I need and want to do during this next year. I am not going to call the list my resolutions, but merely things that need my attention. That sounds better to me.
I think if I could sum up the number one thing that has come to my mind, it would be this: Let go of the past. I didn’t get all the tasks done that I wanted to do during the holidays. I have thought many times that I simply waited too late to get started, which means that I am no longer a young supermom who could whip up things magically overnight. Yes, it’s true, and that’s hard to say. We had a wonderful Christmas, but as I usually do, I have gone down the list in my mind of the things I intended to do and didn’t complete. Have you done this? I have friends who are so together it seems everything is effortless. Really, do they ever sleep?
Letting go means wiping the slate clean. Holding on to things that should have been or could have been is like an anchor. Not just in the business of the holidays, but in everyday life. I saw the greatest post on Pinterest the other day (another topic for later!) that really caught my attention: “Never be a prisoner of your past. It was a lesson, not a life sentence”
Now that will make you stop and think. We have to let go of things we deemed failures, or did not accomplish, or simply things that need to be out of our lives. It can be different for each person. We must learn from things that happen in our lives and carry on. This year, I learned that I need to start preparing earlier for things that matter!
What about you? Are you ready to make 2018 a great year? Let’s get started together by acknowledging that we failed at some things that are in our past and move on. A fresh, new year has just begun, and I am excited about the months ahead. We will walk this together and have a great time.
What do you need to let go of today?
Comments 25
Phyllis, thank you for the years of Victoria magazines that you have poured your heart into. I have every one since sometime in the 1980’s. They are a great inspiration to me, as well as The Ribbon In My Journal. My goal for this year is to become a little better organized as I assume new responsibilities. Please continue to inspire us. You are greatly appreciated!
We were blessed to finally update much of our 31 year old kitchen. To remove years of clutter has been the most calming experience!
As always, the Ribbons are timely and the shared thoughts are a pleasant fellowship.
Proverbs 17:17
I enjoy your ribbons….
I want to get back to searching my family genealogy. I also want to get back to my musical instruments.
Marion
I would like to more organized and toss out the things I do not need any more. I want to make a list of the repairs my house needs.
Joan
I want to learn to sew .Study and learn Latin,too. I would like to brush up on my Italian I learned in High School.
Marilyn
Phyllis – your insights are inspiring and I will share your thoughts with my dearest friends.
This past year has been so hard for my family with passings and medical situations. Being able to acknowledge and symbolically let go of a year of challenge and heartache will help us look at life afresh and gather strength to press on.
Thank you everyone for your heartfelt comments. In reading them, it feels like we are so like minded. Let’s move forward with the strength of our accomplishments behind us and let go of the things that hold us back. God is truly in this.
Love to all…
Beautifully, boldly honest. I think you successfully described the frustrations of most women at some point in their lives. I know that is true of the thoughts and feelings I have often had. Thank you for encouraging us to do what is best for ourselves, as well as our friends and family. Life is short on this earth. May God give each of us the wisdom and grace to keep moving forward, forget what lies behind, and press toward our higher calling of serving Him and others.
The only thing I could add to your words, Phyllis, is……amen!
I love these comments. Such lovely people with Godly focus on this thread! A joy to read from and be ableto apply great advice. Thank you!
Thank you for your post. I so enjoy reading the Ribbon. Your insights, your encouragement, your courage and your testimony have blessed and encouraged me many times. I also enjoy reading the comments of kindred spirits. They encourage me as well. It’s so nice to have like minded women who you can relate to and feel connected to because of the Ribbon.
Amen, sister! My best friend since 3rd grade just lost her precious husband a few days ago on New Year’s Day, which really puts your own life in perspective. With my own husband just retired the day before our friend’s death, it makes me want to make even more of my husband’s new freedom and our future in order to savor every moment with the man I adore and our family.
What great advice for the new year. Thank you. I will spread that around for sure!
My word for the year is actually two words: Let Go. I am good at letting go of physical items, but I am not quite as good at letting go of intangible things. As a control freak, it is very hard for me to let go of things, even if they are things that I can’t control. This is a skill I hope to learn this year.
Just the message I needed! I can no longer multi task like earlier years but just haven’t come to grips with it yet!
Love, love, love your Southern Lady magazine! Keep up the good work. Happy New Year!!!
Happy New year! That is a great motto and definitely something to consider. It reminds me a little of a saying from Anne of Green Gables, “tomorrow is a new day without any mistakes in it.” Food for thought,and I’m sure we will all try to follow your lead,Phyllis. Thank you for the inspiration.
Our treasured Christmas Season with family and loved ones celebrating the birth of Jesus,
always a warm feeling of cherished memories has now disappeared. The New Year brings a crisp new canvas of creative ideas we want to accomplish and explore, discussions with friends over a new tea, coffee or wine. I’m looking forward to what I will succeed at this year and
I’m looking forward to some feel good moments with friends and loved ones….It’s time for all of us to move forward……..Good Luck and God Bless you and all of your followers!
California Carmel
So timely. Thanks for this post, I’m struggling with not being the younger version of myself also.
Thank you, Phyllis. I love the Pinterest post you shared. I think I should stitch it and hang it up where I can be reminded of this. And also remember what *was* accomplished, not only what wasn’t.
This is a great practice and one that we do not always have to wait for the start of a new year to put into play. Any day can be the start of a “new year”. A new year of writing, a new year of exercising, a new year of living in bliss. it doesn’t matter if that new year starts January 1 or October 23. The new year starts with a new mindset, a change. May 2018 be a year of new beginnings each and every day. Cheers!
I love Southern Lady Magazine. I have been a loyal subscriber and also have an online subscription. I enjoyed the article by Ann Dorer, a true Southern lady. I’m always so excited to read an Ann Dorer article. Our world is a better place because of Southern ladies like Ann.
I want to let go of everything that is hindering me or holding me back from running the race and calling that God has set before me. I want to have endurance to do the necessary things and to love fully all the people God has placed in my life. I don’t want to forget my past( God has strengthened me through so many trials) but I want to press on to do His will and finish well by His grace.
Hi Martha,
Wow! Your and Phyllis comments really hit home, and most definitely “letting go” can mean create a better future, yet sometimes the past can be the basis for the very distant future. Do feel that sometimes the Good Lord places us in unique and unusual situations, we wonder why it has happened, but even years later, the answer is usually revealed.
Hugs,
Edna
Martha, Your comments touched my heart. thank you. California Carmel
I couldn’t agree more and I feel so much freer because of! Thank you!