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By Marie Harrison

For the Clemmons Courier

It’s the start of a new year and you know what that means, New Year’s Resolutions.

For many of us, the end of one year and the start of another is a chance to stop and reflect. What went well last year? What could I improve upon? What is something I have always wanted to do? And for most, new year’s resolutions come and go and are quickly forgotten before the new year has really even had a chance to get started, but why? What is it about new year’s resolutions that just make them so hard? And why do some resolutions seem to stick while others fade almost the instant the new year begins?

As I’ve watched my son achieve his lifelong dream of being accepted into a United States Service Academy for college, I’m amazed at all the little, and not so little sacrifices and decisions he has made along the way that have contributed to his success.

As a distance runner, there are no breaks. My son has practice six days a week, 52 weeks a year. Saturday mornings, he is up at 6 a.m. to prepare and get ready for his 10- 12-mile run. Friday nights are not spent in the “typical” teenage fashion. He can’t eat an overly heavy meal composed of fried or greasy food or stay up until all hours of the night because his body has to be ready to run. And all the little choices he makes — to eat healthier on Friday nights, to go to bed by 10 p.m., to wake up early on Saturday morning — each one contributes to his success.

When it comes to academics, knowing the rigor expected of him from the schools to which he applied, my son chose to take extra STEM classes over the summer. Rather than wading knee deep into a pool, he was knee deep in calculus and physics problems. As a whole, it was each one of these small decisions together that contributed to his success and acceptance. Only choosing to wake up early on Saturday mornings wouldn’t matter much if had eaten his weight in fast food the night before. Choosing to take extra classes over the summer wouldn’t matter much if he hadn’t put in the work academically throughout the year already. All the baby steps together are what made the difference for him, and I think that’s what makes the difference for us as well.

Trying to tackle a New Year’s resolution isn’t about one big change, it’s about all the little changes along the way that add up to success. You can’t just wake up and be healthier in an instant, but you can choose to replace one meal a week with a salad or aim to take the stairs instead of the elevator. You don’t instantly become the type of person who jumps out of bed at 5 a.m., ready for the day, but you can set your alarm 10 minutes earlier each day until you gradually achieve your new wake up time.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing to achieve the new “you” that you desire, and when you fail, it doesn’t have to be the end of the road. Will there be days when you just can’t get out of bed early? Yes! But does that mean that the New Year’s resolution is over and done? No! We are not perfect. We all set goals, we try to work towards those goals, and inevitably, there will be bumps in our path. But temporary setbacks don’t have to be the end, we can choose to try again tomorrow or do better next time. When life kicks us down, we can choose to get up, dust ourselves off, and try again. It’s the baby steps that matter most and the willingness to keep inching, ever so slowly, towards our goals.

So, if your goal in this new year is to grow closer to God, or learn more about Jesus, or even to read through the Bible, I want to encourage you to take baby steps. There will be days you fall behind, there will be days you just don’t want to pray, there will be days when God feels far away, but that doesn’t have to be the end of the story. Baby steps. Instead of committing to a new year, new you, maybe consider committing instead to not giving up. Keep marching forward. Even when you fail, even when it’s hard, just don’t give up. In the end, much like my son has learned, if you don’t give up, all the little baby steps along the way will eventually lead you right where you want to be.