Things I would do differently in 2021

 Looking forward into the new year, there are things which I hope I can improve on and things which I would do differently. 

Spiritual 

It is my prayer that God would help me to be more desperate for Him. Make my desire, passion and purpose be Christ and not of the world. Purify my intentions and make them pure so that they will be pleasing aroma to you. I pray that I will be aided in my spiritual disciplines because what a great sinner and wanderer I am. While I'll definitely not drift into holiness, I pray that I will be pulled back by your grace should I drift away from your holiness. 

Thankful for my friend who have gifted me the one year bible and the study book ~ been always wanting to help my lazy and undisciplined self to finish reading the bible in one year. Praying that I will be more intentional in spending quiet time and meditating on His words and not just rushing through it like it's part of my checklist. 

More of you and less of me in the year 2021 :)

Self 

I hope I can learn to be kinder to myself by not entertaining self depleting comments whenever something goes wrong. It takes patience and grace with myself to forgive my own mistakes and accept that I can never be perfect. And that's really okay. 

Being less judgemental and critical of others. We are all only human and none of us can declare that we are infallible. Who am I then to sit on my high horse to condemn others of their mistakes when I make mistakes as well? Perhaps part of growing up also means learning to accept people for who they are and not to be too quick to jump to a judgement. 

Work 

I guess as we start to get use to work and are settled down, we can become bored of the mundane and repetitive things. But yes I am really thankful that I still have a job despite the terrible economic outlook from Covid-19. 

Something I would like to do differently would be grumble less and to do things to the best of my ability. Grumbling seems to decrease my willingness to serve and do my best. And I hope that I would go through this year with Colossians 3:23 in mind that whatever my hands find to do, do it heartily, as to the Lord , and not unto men. 

While God has not promised a smooth sailing life for us after becoming Christians, we are promised to have our rewards in heaven. Man may not see our hard work or may even be scornful towards us despite our purest intentions. However, I pray that I will commit my work unto His hands and let my soul find rest in Him. 

Mindset 

Going forward, I hope to develop a growth mindset where I shall regard every challenge or difficulty as an opportunity for growth and development. This would also translate to less grumbling in the year ahead and to be more at peace even if the situation does not seem to go my way. While I seek to improve in different aspects of my life, I also want to learn how to be more content with what I am blessed with. Contentment probably wouldn't fall into my lap easily and it is much easier for me to see what I am lacking compared to what I am blessed with. Hence, I hope to be intentional about this and to find something I am thankful for and give thanks for it everyday. 

In the new year, I hope to slowly lay aside the heart of comparison and envy. While I think certain amount of comparison is necessary to see what I may improve on, excessive comparison is unhealthy and would plunge me into a state of despair. This includes active comparison on my side where I compare myself with others and also passive comparison whereby people compare themselves to me. Laying aside the weight of comparison would liberate myself from the state of insufficiency and I would not have to live life through perpetual anxiety. Everyone is different and everyone has their own unique set of challenges and struggles. What they present on social media are curated truths and one will never be able to know what's going on exactly in their lives. Therefore, it is futile to look at that facade and conclude that my life is less worthy or less happening compared to theirs and feel unhappy. I am enough. God is enough and has provided me whatever I already need. It is always easier to see what I am lacking and feel uneasy instead of being thankful of what I already have because I am often so ungrateful! Moving forward, I hope to cultivate a thankful and contented heart :) 

The next thing I would like to change would be the mindset of penny wise, pound foolish. I'm really guilty of this because I love to purchase cheap and affordable things, fooling myself into thinking that I've gotten a real bargain when in actual fact, would pay to spend more thereafter. What do I mean by this? I've realised that buying cheap and poor quality products may save me some costs initially but these things tend to need more replacements often and the total cost may end up more than just getting one pricier but better quality product. Examples would be buying fast fashion on ezbuy, cotton on, bugis etc. While the prices are attractive, the material tends to fray easily and sadly, cheap products will tend to look cheap. I'm not saying that it's impossible to buy good deals and good products if the price is cheap, but i think the chances are slimmer from my own experience. I hope to take this new mindset to my house renovation and try not to just go for the cheapest materials possible because I do not want things to break down almost immediately after I start to stay on lol. 

Finally, as an extension of learning to be more contented with what I already have, I want to start adopting the mindset of having less is more. Instead of having additions to my existing life, I would want to subtract things from my life. This helps me focus on things that I absolutely need and not entrench myself in a cycle of want. When my wants get lesser, I am able to focus more on my needs. This helps me to generate less wastage and be a more mindful consumer and better steward of my resources. 

So that's all for now, wishing everyone a happy 2021 ahead :)