Why 2019 Will Be No Different For You Than 2018

The New Year approaches, and as I scroll through my Facebook newsfeed I see all the typical posts about bidding a much-anticipated ado to this year. They are not so much hope-filled posts as they are desperate declarations that surely the next year will be an improvement on the current one. Surely all the garbage will cease, the pouring rain of bad luck will let off, and something good will finally happen in the coming year. See ya later, 2018, and bring me some good news New Year! Well, I have to be honest, my friends, for many of us I don’t think a thing will change. I suppose it’s better you know now than a false idea of a stellar year ahead. Too much?

I wish I had a dollar for every post, meme, or update I’ve seen that declares 2019 will be different, and the one that I’ve seen the most totes the grand decision to cut negative people out of your life in the coming year. For surely if you can shake the dust of the Debbie Downers from your feet then things will start to look up. Surely. I remember thinking that was what I really needed to do to finally feel better. Out with the drama, and in with the positivity! Bam.

I mean, we’ve all had those people. You know the ones I’m talking about. They’re the people who manage to make you feel like crap, no matter what, and I certainly had a few people like that on my list. Even family, the people who should be your biggest supporters, and sadly the people that you feel guilty for cutting out of your life. I can recall a point where I finally felt peace for letting those folks go.

It’s like the Lord told me, “you can forgive someone and not be their friend.”

Through His wisdom, I realized that some people did consistently bring me down, and I could forgive them for that. But I didn’t have to hang out with them to prove my forgiveness. It was okay to distance myself from darkness, to walk in an environment that edified me.

But guess what? Things didn’t really improve that much. I still was bothered by it all. I allowed broken relationships to break me, and negative circumstances to shake me. And shake me hard. I was a victim of my environment, if you will. So if everything looked up, so did I, but if the wind threatened to blow over my little boat, I was afraid.

For most of us, 2019 will be the same as 2018, not because we don’t desire it to be better, but because we are trying to change the wrong things. We’re quick to change our friends, change our jobs, and change our eating habits, but we’re slow to change ourselves and our mindsets. We’re eager to cut out negative people, but not quite so enthusiastic about cutting out the negative parts of ourselves. We strive to change our circumstances, determined to spend less money or exercise more. And these things aren’t without merit! They’re typically good ideas, but unless we also change how we react to our current situation, nothing will ever get better.