New Year Resolution: Finding Silence in a Noisy World
The Importance of Self-Examination
For New Years, it's oftentimes the custom for us to try to figure out how we should improve ourselves. So the first step is always going to be taking stock of the last year, a general confession type of examination of conscience, if you will. We can look at our our life at the last year, see how we've improved, but also see the many ways we failed. So it's never it we should never exclude nor one nor the other. We should always look at the whole picture, because that's the only way we're going to understand how God has been guiding us and how God is working in our soul as of right now, so that we have a better context to figure out what we need to do better this year. So that's the first step. Take an examination of conscience, really look deep into the good and the bad about this last year so that we can try for the year to come to come up with a series of resolutions for the purpose of being able to improve ourselves more each day of each year.
Crafting Specific and Attainable Resolutions
There should be improvements. There should be some part of ourselves that is improving, that is being perfected, and that is the goal that we need to set for ourselves. How do we do that? Well, the first step is we don't take generalities. It's easy for us to say, I'm going to be more charitable, I'm going to be kinder, I'm going to be quieter, I'm going to be more humble. Those kinds of things are very easy to say, but the question would always come back to how? What are you going to do concretely to actually make that happen? Because concretely. Means something very tangible, something very small, something very close to our everyday lives, something we can practice every day. That is what we mean by tangible or concrete. Any resolution that we make has to be practical. It has to be something small and attainable, something we can do on a daily basis and something that is absolutely achievable by us where we are right now. So that is something we must consider. It is important for us to consider. I'm going to be more charitable. Okay. But how am I going to be more charitable? What does that mean? What shape does that take? Well, it means that I am going to. I am going to say a prayer for somebody. Every time I see somebody in need. Okay. That's a lot more attainable. That's a lot easier. But it is something that we're going to have to remind ourselves of constantly, because that's the other element. It doesn't just have to be small as something that we can do, but it has to be something. It has to be something achievable. But it has to be something easily and memorable. Something that is going to be easily reminded to us frequently throughout the days, because it is going to be something we need to remember every day, day in, day out, long term has.
Keeping Resolutions Manageable and Memorable
So it has to be something memorable and we have to find a way to trigger our memory for it so that we are constantly reminding ourselves of it. And the third thing is there should be few resolutions. If we come out with a sheet of 25 resolutions, we have a problem. We're never going to do any of them. So let's keep it to two or three, make them simple, make them small, make them achievable for where we are right now, make them memorable. And that's that. Those are the easy things to do.
Suggestions for the New Year: Silence and Disconnection
Now, if I might make some suggestions. Because they are. So there are some universality, shall we say. One of the worst parts of this last year was the noise. We're not talking around the church. I'm talking about in the world. The noise was insufferable. Politics, news media, social media. Just people chattering and gossiping. Whatever it was, there was just so much noise everywhere at all times. We need to start getting rid of that. So the two things that I would recommend is start getting away from the media and social media, taking more time, away from your phones, away from computers, devices, news, everything. Get away from them. Cut that down by about 90%. We really don't need to all this news. We don't need this flood of information at all times. We can be far more disconnected and we can easily survive in this world being that much more disconnected. There is no necessity for us to be that on top of everything all the time. So that is the first step. The world has far too many hooks in our soul, and it robs this of far too much peace. And there's far too much of a driving need to be too involved in everything. And there is a certain. Salacious, nature unseen, the train wreck of our society today to a certain schadenfreude of seeing how everything is falling apart. That is not a healthy reaction. That is something we need to avoid. And the way we do this is to start disconnecting more and more.
Cultivating Inner Silence for Spiritual Renewal
The second thing is the silence in the mind, the silence in the soul. Because of this, in part. In part because of all the agitation in the world, but also because we have let far too much noise and disturbance into our own souls. We have not found the peace of prayer. And this last year was a very definite indication of that. The desperation, the fear, the panic, and also, yes, the schadenfreude and other things comes from a lack of true faith and confidence in God that can only come from a lack in our prayer life. And so our prayer life must be stronger. But in order for that to be stronger, we have to be much more silent in our own souls. Because God is the one who needs to be speaking right now, not us. We're not adding to the conversation. God is the only one who is going to be able to elevate our souls to where we need to be. He's the only one who is going to be able to guide us to where we need to go. He is the only one who really matters.
Finding Peace through Restraint and Listening
We are simply his instruments and we don't even know how to serve him or be faithful instruments if we're not paying attention to what he wants. And so we need to transform the way that we practice our faith, the way that we live our lives, and especially the way that we pray into an act of perfect submission and quiet, because that is the only way we will hear the voice of God so that we can actually follow the voice and the indicators that God gives us. By doing so, we will be able to live a much better, more fulfilled life. So those are my two suggestions. Silence from the World. Much more of it anyway, as silence in our own souls. If we can work on those two things. And yes, silence also means exterior silence. The other side of the coin of the silence around soul is maybe talking a little less. That's not a bad thing either, that there's this much noise in the world. Maybe we shouldn't contribute so much to it.
The Three Filters: Truth, Goodness, and Usefulness
The three filters. The three filters we need to put each and every one of us to put over our own mouth. Nothing passes our mouth that is not true. Good and useful. If those three things are not met, we shouldn't say it. Period. And so maybe we need to start a little thinking a little bit more deeply about that. And reminding ourselves of that is what I am going to say true, good and useful. And if we can do those things, that silence from the outside, that silence on the inside, and the silence coming out of us, if we can work on those three things, it will be a very much better year for us as a as as individuals. But also we will become much more positive contributors to the general world, which needs so much help from the influence, the power of God.
Summary
The text explores the importance of self-reflection and crafting specific, achievable New Year's resolutions for self-improvement. It emphasizes examining the past year, identifying both successes and failures as a foundation for setting personal goals. These goals should be tangible, memorable, and limited in number to ensure they are practical and achievable.
Additionally, the text recommends reducing external noise by disconnecting from media and fostering internal silence to strengthen one's prayer life and connect more deeply with God. Through these practices, individuals can contribute positively to the world and improve their own spiritual well-being, using the "three filters" of truth, goodness, and usefulness to guide their words and actions.