Wow! This one hit me hard this morning. My plate feels kind of full right now. I’d be willing to go out on a limb and say that it’s likely you feel like you’re operating with quite a full plate, too. You know, the kind where it makes you wonder how in the world you’re going to manage it all. You have more to do than there’s actually time in the day to get it all done. You have so many questions that don’t seem to have definitive answers. You have goals and dreams for a brighter future, but your fears have you feeling stuck again. You’re facing situations that have you wondering how exactly to proceed.

I can forget that there are definitely good things occupying a portion of my plate, too, because I start to zero in only on what appears to be heaping helpings of challenges, obstacles, and uncertainties. And here’s what can happen, quite frequently, in fact, if I’m not careful. I start to stress, and even obsess, about the mess. Maybe you can relate? My eyes get so focused in on the mess, that I’m going to completely miss the miracle.

Our perspective is something we have to be intentional about choosing. It can either cloud our vision or help us to recognize and appreciate the blessings right in the midst of the huge messes. Where has your focus been lately? Could you benefit from making some small adjustments? What we focus on, we find. Will you join me in looking for the miracles this week? I am confident that they do exist. They’re right there hiding under what appears to us to only be a big giant mess.

This is, by far, one of my most favorite times of year. The start line of a brand new calendar. Filled with more hope and more possibility. There’s more goals I want to accomplish and dreams I want to see unfold.

And this morning it just kind of hit me. What if one of the things I need “most” in my quest for “more” is actually “less?” Having just come through the holiday season, I’ve seen “more“ show up in countless ways. More toys than we have space for in our house. More stuff than I have room to pack in my suitcase. More food at the table than I would ever be able to eat. More lists of things I need to do than I’d ever have the time to accomplish. And the days and weeks and months roll on and there’s another brand of more that starts to take root. More fear than faith. More doubts than confidence. And more busy doing than simply being a d enjoying. More working than pausing. And I start to feel like the more I attempt to do, the less I actually get done. I’m distracted at every turn and I start believing the lie that “I’m not enough.”

It’s a cycle I’ve seen play out over and over again in my life. So this year, my plan is different. I’m going to ask myself a new set of questions. Where can I start trimming back? In my diet? My cupboards? My closets? My finances? My to do list? My calendar? My packing? And so on. Because I have this strong sense that “less” really is “more.” Stuff seems to be busting out of the seams in every aspect of my life. And I have a feeling it’s distracting me from my purpose and taking up valuable space in both my head and my heart. I try to manage it, organize it, move it, and reorganize it. And it makes me tired just thinking about all of it.

So for 2018 what if all I need is less?

Less doing, more being.

Less stuff, more freedom.

Less judging, more loving.

Less wishing for something in the future, more living in the present moment.

Less fear, more faith.

Less of me, more of God.

What if I discover that in needing less, I actually have more? I can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store.