From Shelly Pick, Director of Counseling
Have you ever set a goal and then given up? I have. Plenty of times. Finally, a few years ago, I decided to make a goal and stick with it. To make sure I followed through, I told A LOT of people what I was doing and I am happy to say I accomplished my goal. I have found myself goal-setting with many of my students and this time of year is such a perfect time to do it.
We are coming up on the end of the semester and setting our sights on a new year. Goal setting is a scary thing because nobody wants to fail but the key is to not give up before we have the chance to begin. We can achieve success by first setting an easy to reach goal. Once that goal is met, we can set a second goal and just continue on.
In short, we can do hard things even if we feel anxious the entire time. Having a goal can be life-changing and give one courage to fight when things get the most difficult. It is then that we can discover our greatest gifts and discover that the greatest gift we can give the world is ourselves.
We are in the midst of Advent. Honestly, as a kid, I wanted to skip through it and get straight to Christmas because it was all about the presents. It should have been about HIS presence. If I could go back to my ten-year-old self, I would tell her to do the following:
- Look for the good in people instead of focusing on the negative. To have hope and faith that I can do things that are hard and make changes in my life that are positive.
- To shut out the world, and all of its scariness and work to have peace and allow my mind to be still so that God may speak to me. I have found when God talks to me He is clear and uses few words!
- To believe I am worthy of love and to love everyone as Jesus taught. My ten-year-old self would argue this is the hardest to do…especially being the youngest of five children.
- Relax and be in the moment; to enjoy the time I have with the people I love.
As the days are shorter and the darkness of the world seems to close in around us, let’s light each Advent candle to remind ourselves of the power and presence Christ has within us.
May your Advent be full of hope, joy, peace and the love of Christ.
