I love both Advent and Christmas.

I love preparing, anticipating, waiting for what is to come. It makes the arrival of Christmas all the sweeter.

Like waiting all summer for a resolution to the cliffhanger, all year for the next book in a series, the next chance to have candy corn, peppermint mochas, or cream eggs. The waiting is so much the best part.

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Really, Advent, celebrating Advent, getting into Advent is about as countercultural a thing we can do as Christians. It is embracing the anticipation, not just the receiving; the hoping, not only the giving; the new opportunity, not only the arriving and fulfilling. It is, I believe, the most Christian of seasons.

With that in mind, I invited us to see Advent as a Christian New Year’s. To celebrate it more than we do December 31.

Why We Need a New Year’s Resolution…in November?

Though it may say 2015 on your kitten calendar and a whole month is left to play out before you go to buy a new one, we have begun a new year, the church’s true year.

And in that spirit, I offered up an opportunity to  see Advent anew. Perhaps with the already familiar idea of the New Year’s resolution.

I normally don’t dig on resolutions. Our brains are wired to work against us in precisely these sorts of circumstances. Our inevitable failures (we will all fail sometime) will build up shame and cause resentment and a distorted sense of self.

Resolutions are pretty bad.

Community, online and off, and accountability help, however. Opportunities to do the right thing for the right reasons is good.

I believe in life changes, not resolutions. I believe in making a specific decision to change a part of my life that isn’t working, rather than resolve to change something I don’t like about myself.

This is how New Year’s Resolution stick.

So here is the resolution I set for myself this year.

I am pretty fat. Not morbidly obese, but definitely overweight by commonly accepted health standards. Don’t argue with me. The BMI tells me so. And ever since I graduated high school and stopped playing tennis for about 3 hours every day, I have tended to be about the same weight, give or take 20.

I have resolved to lose weight. That has never worked.

I have resolved to take up running. That worked barely better.

I have purchased a gym membership. I used it sporadically: very intense few weeks, then months of nothing.

However, this October, I decided to get all of my steps in every day.

I have been counting them, with an easy target for the last few months, with relative success. So I started being more intentional about it and made an actual effort to get them in.

I was good for a couple of weeks, getting a lot of my walking in with my regular activity and switching to a standing table rather than sitting at a desk. I make a fool of myself with this half dance / half walk thing I do in Starbucks in the morning and the same thing at church. I started taking breaks and doing quick bursts on the stairs in the afternoons to wake up. I went for walks with my Mom when I visited several weeks back.

The real test came over the holiday weekend when we were going to have all this driving, all this family time, all this turkey to cook, all this coma to overcome. Three nights I had to go out after people went to bed to get my steps in so that my app will count them as being for that day.

This is a productivity trick they call “don’t break the chain.” For me, it has been essential and a big motivator. It gives me incentive to do this every single day. To not miss out on my steps. The only day I missed in the last three weeks was a night in which I didn’t open my app before midnight: so it added those steps to the next day.

This may not work for you. This may not be the way you make changes in your life. The only truly effective way to change your life is to use the method that actually works for you.

This has worked for me. I missed my goal twice in November. I increased my steps goal last week and met it every day since.

I’ve done this knowing that there are plenty of excuses in the way: changing weather, sharing family responsibilities, lethargy and a busy schedule, and several days with lots of sitting and driving.

But I’ve resolved to do this every single day. To make this change in my life for every single day. Without excuse.

Most importantly, it was a good time to change. Lots of Thanksgiving food, family, busy time, lots to do, different expectations. I’m busy! And for me, that is better. My best grades in undergrad were the semesters I was the busiest. My worst came in the semesters I cut back.

To get active, I need to be active. To change, I needed to change during a time of activity and change. Not after we are all done with it. Not when my body wants to rest.

I’m just hoping I can get my steps in during a miserable January and February. I’m convinced this year I have a better chance.

How about you?