This holiday season I find myself looking back over 2015. I had so many great plans to get in shape, get out of debt, and get working on my book.

Sometimes progress is so slow it seems like you’re moving backwards.

I did lose ten pounds but then someone decided to take me on vacation and it’s been all downhill from there. The budget lost out to Chicken Fiesta and JustFab boots, and the book is really good. All five pages of it.

These aren’t major problems. I still have a home, a job, and really great friends. It’s just easier to see what you’re lacking when it’s just you. Without the busyness and hustle of having a family to look after, problems seem magnified because you are the top priority in your life. I have too much time to think.

I need to put my focus elsewhere.

From my window I see a man walking down the street whose body leans sharply to one side, his left shoulder up in the air and his right dipped down towards his stomach.

A reminder.

I have a lot to be grateful for.

My struggles are minor. The things I’m dissatisfied with can be changed and improved upon.

The thing is, I can achieve the perfect body, the financial security, and I can finish my book. I plan to work towards these things. They still won’t make me happy or fulfilled.

I need to be putting other people first. Being a good friend. Serving. Loving. Giving.

That’s where joy is. When you are stuck looking inward, you will quickly get depressed. It’s when we reach outside ourselves that we find purpose, fulfillment and contentment.

It’s how God designed us and it’s what he desires for us.

I want to live in that place.

I either need to get plugged in with a church or I need to start a meet-up group or volunteer somewhere.

Hold me accountable!

Let’s find that sweet spot where love, goodness, and faithfulness surround us and flow through us.

My holidays are suddenly seeming a little brighter.

Ang