The Year Ahead
As we cast our eyes to 2021 I am wondering how you’re feeling about the year ahead? 2020 was certainly an interesting one! I don’t know if you’re like me, but I always start the year experiencing a volatile cocktail of emotions. In the second week of January, I return home from my annual camping holiday, with a whole array of emotions swirling around in my gut! This cocktail begins to shake about 3 days before pulling down our tent and leaving our idyllic setting by the lake. I find myself waking in the morning with an emotional mix of highs and lows ... excitement to anxiety... anticipation to frustration ... peace to stress ... faith to fear...!
I always look forward to a new year as I like NEW. I welcome the fact that every 12 months there’s a chance to start life afresh – like a clean page or a blank canvas. I love taking the time to see new possibilities, to plan new goals and to scheme new ventures. I find it exciting to revive the ‘old’ and to birth the ‘new’. I love the opportunity to review my life and to make fresh decisions. It’s a time when I seek God and ask him what is the season and the priorities for the year ahead.
On the other hand, these positive emotions are often coupled with a feeling of overwhelm and a sense of ‘here we go again’. So what do we do with these negative emotions? We certainly can’t hide from them or deny them? We need to isolate what we are feeling and why, and take the time to consider the way forward. We need to ask the questions: Do I need to let go of disappointment (I’m sure there were a few of those in 2020)? Do I need to take a new direction? Do I need to make changes?
My encouragement as you enter the year ahead is to stop and pause. During this time listen and process your emotions. Bring God into your thinking and decision making space. Use the time to review and adjust your priorities and plans. Stir faith in your heart for the year ahead … ask yourself what am I seeing and hoping for? Make some choices to internationalize personal growth. Could this be to take up a new hobby … a course of study … strengthen a relationship … take on a new responsibility? The year ahead is full of potential and possibilities … enjoy the process of exploring 2021 with God … and committing it to him.
Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. Psalm 37:5
Believing with you for a magnificent 2021.
Amanda Antcliff, along with her husband Pat, are the Executive Pastors of C3 SYD and trainer at C3 College. Through her business, My Personal Coach, Amanda provides life, leadership and careers coaching.
Website: www.mypersonalcoach.biz
Instagram: @amandajantcliff