“It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort. And when you implement that effort into your life. Every single day, that’s where transformation happens. That’s how change occurs. Keep going. Remember why you started.” – Jillian Michaels
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I recently stumbled on a not-so-recent trend for self-improvement and productivity. I was watching a couple of French videos on YouTube, and stumbled upon what’s called a Winter Arc. I’m a bit (a lot) late to the party, but essentially, it’s one’s self development and self-improvement in this last stretch of the year.
As I was thinking about what it is that I want to do for myself for the remainder of the year, I thought also about how my birthday is also around the corner. And everytime I think of changing; I’ve thought of it as how it benefits me, my future, and blah blah blah. But I think I have to think about how it supports the work that God has given me. I don’t mean to make it a religious moment, but the work that I want to do is in line with what brings me joy—learning languages, writing, my business, cooking, calligraphy…. These are things that bring me joy and would do for free.
It feels as though there’s always some goal to meet, a zenith to reach, and I think at this big age I’m over it. I want to do things for the sake of their enjoyment, not always because it’s what I socially should be doing. What I mean is, I want to enjoy the process of my learning, and developing, and discovering. I don’t want to live a life where I’m not remaining in the moment, because there’s somewhere that I need to get. I can’t even enjoy the moment, because my mind is already in tomorrow, next week, next year... I know God doesn’t even want me to live like that. Planning is important, and I’m not going to stop making plans, and writing things down, but what is part of my winter arc is changing how I think about what I’m doing.
I recently saw a quote that said “Your life is not a group project.” At first it made me chuckle, but it has just occurred to me that it really isn’t a group project. It’s me and God, and truly 3’s a crowd. More often than not, when there are too many opinions regarding how you ought to live your life, God’s word and the Holy Spirit’s voice are nowhere to be found in the milieu of opinions. And as a child of God, that doesn’t even make any kind of sense. Life’s challenging enough without the 2 cents of every Tom, Dick and Harry. It becomes even challenging to enjoy the little things, the miracles that happen daily because you’re either waiting, lamenting, or planning or working to fully appreciate the present moment.
There are lots of things that suck about life right now, but I’m training my mind to rest in the things that God has brought in my life that bring joy. As I was cooking, I heard “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil4:8)
And I realized that the meditation of my heart has to change; and the thoughts of my mind need to be transformed to reflect someone new. I love the idea of a winter arc, because it’s a trigger for change, for transformation and for intentional living.
I like the idea of changing from the inside out, but in my quest to be better, especially spiritually, I’ve neglected an aspect that comes with transformation: stewardship. Maintaining the change. Personally, I’ve neglected the stewarding of my health and fitness. It always gets thrown to the bottom of the list because everything else becomes more important. But health is wealth, and without good health you can’t enjoy the great things that you are doing or working toward.
Although the idea of a winter arc seems like another self-serving social media trend, living a transformed life lines up with the path that I am on. Although the foundation, and the motivation is different, it’s causing me to be intentional about this renewed mindset that I’m pursuing, and ensuring I’m stewarding what has been placed in my hands.
So, what’s on the list for my winter arc?
- Changing how I think about God. Take Him out of the box. Trust Him, and take the risks. This looks like obeying right away, rather than waiting months (or a year) later to go for something.
- Commit to the work. Use the word actively. How? 1) find a scripture for the issue and pray with it. 2) Use my authority in Christ to decide the outcome of a thing. Recently, I had a sore throat which is always a sign I'm about to get sick. I let it go for a few days, but about 2-3 days ago, as I lay in bed, I decided that I won't be sick. I can't get sick. I rebuked the thing, referenced a few scriptures, and literally 24 hours later, the sore throat was gone. It sounds ridiculous even as I type it, but I refuse to be sick this 2024/2025. I'm ready to see the Word of God in action, no matter how great or small the situation is.
- Working out. This is an area I've sorely neglected and have not stewarded well this 2024. But These last 2 months I am going to be intentional by returning to my workout schedule. My body is a temple and the temple needs renovation. I can’t put it off any longer.
- Food. I love cooking. I never used to enjoy it, but I've since discovered that cooking is relaxing and I’m enjoying learning, and trying new things. I I need to lean into that and learn to do things that I enjoy.
I won’t put the entire list down, but language learning is on the list. 2025 will be my year of travel. And I know France is on that list, so I need to parlez en français comme un natif par l’année prochaine, for real. I want to start a French blog by this time next year.
Anyway, I feel a lot of ideas flowing all of a sudden.
This Winter Arc thing isn’t such a bad thing at all.
As we’re wrapping up 2024, I’m already thinking of 2025 and I’m getting excited!
