New Year, New Start: Thoughts on Spiritual, Physical, and Emotional Health
By Jessica Brodie
Have you ever liked something in spite of what it’s normally known for? I’m not wild about cold weather, yet I’ve always liked January. Not only is it my birthday month, but I love the fresh start the first month brings: it’s a new year, a new beginning, a new chapter in life. No matter how dismal, backwards, or awful last year was, you can almost always reset your life in January.
Usually around the first of the year I buy a new devotional or a new calendar and get really organized about all my work projects after the holiday break. Not only that, but because I have a tendency to get sick around Thanksgiving and Christmas—this year it was the flu, followed by bronchitis, last year it was COVID, and the year before was a mega sinus infection—in January I’m also usually super motivated and energized. My health has returned to normal, and I feel an itch to start something new. There’s a fresh, vibrant feeling in the air, and even though spring is a long way off, it’s as if I can already picture those delicate bright green buds on the bare branches outside my window.
In a deeper sense, January reminds me of the reset we get in Christ, which the apostle Paul tells us about in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV): “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
We can let go of the past, knowing we get a do-over, a new identity, a blank page in our January calendar. We get a fresh start in Jesus.
Recently, picking a “word of the year” has become a popular practice, replacing for many the old concept of a “New Year’s resolution.” Being more general and perhaps more abstract, a word of the year can be an easier goal to achieve. Last year, my word was peace. While the circumstances of my life were at times anything but peaceful last year, I found myself clinging to that concept: inner peace. Outer peace. Resting and rooted in Christ, even when the rest of my life felt out of control.
This year, my word for the year came to me in the middle of the night. I could see the word blazing across my brain like a banner: Health.
To me, health isn’t just about my body (though, having just gotten over bronchitis, I can certainly appreciate that!). Health applies to all aspects of my life: physical health as well as emotional health, spiritual health, and relationship health.
To be “in health” isn’t simply being without disease, sickness, or other infirmity. It involves being in a state of positive well-being. It’s living fully and completely—breathing deeply, walking intentionally, nurturing relationships, getting enough sleep, drinking lots of water, avoiding toxins and eating “clean,” whole foods. It’s carving out time for prayer and solitude so I can hear God’s voice amid the clamor of the world. It’s making sure I’m not so keyed up or stressed out that my first instinct is to lash out instead of listen and love.
I’m an overachiever, and I tend to let a lot of my own personal needs take the back burner when there is a looming project or a crisis. This year, my teen daughter experienced a mental health issue, and I found myself giving so much I began running on overdrive. My physical health became an afterthought, and I completely stopped exercising midyear. I’m still healing from it, but thankfully, she is on the mend (so am I).
In truth I felt disconnected from myself, like a piece of me was fractured. I wasn’t healthy physically, spiritually, or emotionally—I was hurting.
It took a while to recognize it, and when I did I began to hunker down, to ask God for healing, to focus on wellness and a renewed spirit.
Now that my eyes are open, I want to remain this way: whole and in connection with God regardless of the difficult experiences I’m going through.
Health looks like a lot of different things for a lot of different people. For me, it’s understanding and slowing down. It’s taking time to breathe, to walk, to listen to people, to genuinely stop and pray and feel the Lord at work in the world around me.
My goal this week is to begin walking again and weightlifting. I’ve resumed clean eating (which always seems to take a hiatus over the holidays!), and I’m trying to be intentional about my relationships, both friendships and within my family. I’m reading more and carving out quality time with my husband.
For me, that is what health looks like.
Now I ask you: What does health look like to you? Do you have a word for the year? Is health something you should be focusing on, whether physical, emotional, spiritual, or all of the above?
I’d love to hear about your word, or your thoughts on health. Comment below, or email me privately.
God bless you! Here’s to being that new creation in Christ.
