Digging out my resolutions

Last week a friend and I dug into the church music closet. We found plenty of beautiful sheet music, but much of it was buried and inaccessible. Disorganized stacks from pre-COVID performances leaned angularly to one side, bordered by a mishmash of sound equipment and folios from recent Christmas events. We wanted to get a start on something for Easter, but making sense of anything in there will take some effort.

This kind of sounds like my New Year’s resolutions. After Christmas, I had some great plans for myself. I chose my goals carefully, even prayerfully. I was going to exercise regularly, eat better and develop some much-wanted skills. I wrote down tasks to do and planned ongoing routines. The possibilities excited me. But now, a few weeks into the new year, my resolutions are all but forgotten. Like the music that could come from the church closet, my goals have become buried in the ebb and flow of the everyday.

Have you ever noticed that the first thing on store shelves right after the New Year are organizers? We’ve just gotten all this stuff during Christmas; now it’s time to integrate it into our lives. Maybe that’s why we have New Year’s resolutions just after Christmas—an effort to incorporate consistent spiritual growth from the stirrings we felt within us during the Season of Christ.

I want to change because I want to be like Christ. He asked me to. Christ said, “follow me,” by my rough count, at least 16 times in the Gospels. Following Him means transformation, repentance. My Bible dictionary notes that “repentance” is translated from a Greek word that “denotes a change of mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world.…. [A] turning of the heart and will to God and a renunciation of sin” (churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/repentance).

Moving goals from paper to habit is tough. But Christ “grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52), and so can we. Much has been written and TED-talked about creating habits or achieving goals. James Clear, the author of the bestselling book, “Atomic Habits,” notes on the cover “Tiny changes, remarkable results.” I agree. As James 3:4 observes, “ships…[are] turned about with a very small helm.” Nephi 16:29 also notes that “by small means, the Lord can bring about great things.” Improving even one percent, if done daily, or even regularly, can bring about tremendous change.

So, I put some of these ideas to work. One idea I found helpful was to connect the habit I want to make with a habit I already have. For example, I will rarely miss my daily scripture study if I do it with a meal. Other successes have come by rearranging my schedule, like fitting in a 15-minute exercise session first thing in the morning and checking my emails later in the day. Other skills I want to develop require that I make them a priority: if I start piano practice before 7 a.m. every weekday, I’m pretty likely to get it done. Other things have to wait, or get dropped altogether.

Of course, the whole process of growth is best guided by prayer. Great questions to ask Him: “What do I need to start doing?” “What do I need to stop doing?” Application questions are important to ask as well: “How can I make this (serving the poor, pondering divine messages, developing patience) work in my life?” As children of heavenly beings, growth and change (remember?—synonyms for repentance) are major purposes of our lives here on earth. Who are we to be? Better. Much better.

We haven’t finished cleaning out that church closet yet. Some of the music remains uncatalogued, unavailable. But junk has been pitched, similar items put together, and new organizing containers brought in. We’re making progress. I’m getting back on track with my goals again, too. For both, I have a clearer picture of what to do and how to do it. And with both, I plan to be making music again soon.

Kristin Fry is an amateur dairywoman and cheese maker who loves music, grandchildren, and her membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.