I am not normally a New Year's resolutions kind of person. Statistics show that most don't keep them past a couple weeks into the new year and I hate wasting time. That being said, there are 5 specific mistakes I made in 2020 that I don't plan to repeat in 2021.

It's been said that the easiest person to fool is yourself. That's one reason I'm trying to spend a little more time in front of the mirror to examine ways I can make 2021 a better year than 2020. Here are 5 of my biggest stumbles over the past year I want to not repeat again:

1. I assumed that everything would just work out

In early 2020 when we started hearing news reports of a pandemic developing in the Far East, I thought...well, it can't be THAT bad, can it? Things just have a way of working out so I downplayed it in my own mind. Wow, was that a mammoth mistake. The pandemic DID come to America with a fury and cost hundreds of thousands of lives and in some cases jobs. It still hasn't worked itself out and we still have major hurdles to jump to restore life to somewhat normal.

2. I was sometimes tone deaf to the suffering of others

I have to be completely honest and say that 2020 was not a truly awful year for my family. I did not lose my job. As a matter of fact, my job and career have never been better. My family has not gotten the virus up to this point and we really haven't even been regular sick much. A few times I allowed my happiness to show a little too much if I'm being honest with myself. The big revelation happened when I had a friend die from the virus. Someone I actually grew up with and really knew. At that point, it wasn't something that could be dismissed as fake news any longer. Once the lockdown really hit in the spring, I had multitudes of friends who lost their jobs. In 2021, my focus will hopefully remain on the needs of others and not on any big party I'm ready to throw for myself.

3. I tried too many fad diets

I have battled a slow metabolism much of my adult life. About 10 years ago, I lost a ton of weight doing a low carb routine. The weight came back as soon as I went back to regular food. In 2020, I tried low carb again and also went down the intermittent fasting road. The fasting has advantages to my daily routine, but it really comes down to the fact that the fad stuff doesn't really work long term. Eating healthier foods and less of it along with staying active is what I really need to nail down in 2021.

4. I turned left onto 2nd Street too much

I realize this may seem silly to most, but this is something I really want to consciously not do in 2021. I patronize a lot of businesses on 2nd Street. That's a good thing. The bad thing is I live in a part of town where I regularly need to turn west onto that street after running my errands. No more. Very few things in my life that I feel that I really control. This is one of them. Laugh if you want, but left onto 2nd Street is not gonna be a 2021 thing for me.

5. I didn't always live out my faith

This is the last item on my list, but actually the biggest thing I need to change in 2021. Faith by definition is belief in things not seen. More times than I care to remember in 2020, I got worried about stuff. Has God ever let me down? No. Has my family ever gone hungry? No. Did I worry about these things in the past year. Absolutely. In 2021, I will strive to remember that the God who my faith is 100% placed in is bigger than any potential problems.

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