We’re a few weeks into the new year. Kids are back at school. Hopefully, many of us are back into some semblance of a routine.
February is a long month for being so short.
I find this month to be one of my favorite times of the year to shake things up. It’s far enough into the new year to know what resolutions or routine changes are sticking. But there’s still time to make a change before kids get out of school for the summer and everyone’s schedules get wacky.
Maybe now is a good time to pivot. If something isn’t working well, maybe now is a good time to change it.
Deciding to pivot, and then actually doing it, often isn’t easy. It was hard to make a plan and commit to a new routine or a project the first time around. And not only are things not working out like you’d hoped, but now you need to come up with a new plan?
Don’t lose heart, friend. Maybe a new plan is exactly what you need.
The First Step is Acknowledging You Need to Pivot
For the first time in five years, I wrote Advent devotionals again. (If you signed up and joined us – thank you! I loved hearing from you and knowing that you were reading always brought a smile to my heart.)
But I have a little secret – those devotionals aren’t the ones I was hoping to send out.
I started back in July. Having done a devotional series in 2020, I knew how long the process would take me. (And I didn’t have kids at that time.) I wanted lots of time to read, study, and write.
Originally, I intended to use the daily office readings from the Book of Common Prayer. The BCP is a collection of prayers, rites, and readings used by Anglican churches in their worship—the first editions date back to 1549. This book has been used for generations to guide and enrich worship services around the world.
Our world has felt pretty divided lately, especially this last year. I really liked the idea that my readers would not only be reading passages together as our small community, but also with others using the BCP around the world. Engaging with the same text as someone far away from me, very different from me, was appealing.
I mapped out weeks of reading and started making notes and researching. I was only able to write during nap times five days a week, so it wasn’t a particularly quick process. Then I learned something…disheartening…in September.
I was having a hard time connecting the daily readings with each other, and then I learned why. They aren’t seasonal.
I don’t use the BCP regularly in my studying and worshipping, so I didn’t realize that the daily office readings don’t connect to any particular point on the church calendar. Meaning they don’t relate to Christmas or Easter. Instead, their one goal is to help you read through the entire Bible in two years.
You think I would have picked up on this theme, or lack thereof, sooner. But I was sure a connection would come around somewhere.
Spoiler alert – it didn’t.
Be Brave and Take a New Direction
So, I redid my entire plan, and I started my research all over again. To make it work, I had to pivot.
I created a new reading plan, with new scriptures and overarching themes. I started from the beginning.
(And actually, I ended up pivoting a second time. With all that happened with our family in October and November, all of my creative projects got put on the back burner. I ended up refreshing and reusing the writings from 2020. Even the backup plan had to change.)
While the timeline was less than ideal, if I had been afraid to pivot, I’d still be working with a system that wasn’t right. I’d still be trying to put a square peg in a round hole.
Even though it was scary, frustrating, and exhausting, the pivot needed to happen. The whole study, and my writing of it, was so much better with the new framework than the old.
The idea behind the old wasn’t bad. It was lovely. But it wasn’t right for this time.
Where Are You Headed?
We all have had times in life when what we planned didn’t turn out the way we expected. It happens all the time in big and little things.
I planned to take the kids grocery shopping today, but getting out of the house was a struggle, and I gave up.
I wanted to have a project done by a specific time, but I kept having to put out little fires, and now I’m behind.
The kids were supposed to decorate treat bags for Valentine’s Day, but instead threw paint at the wall, and I said it was time to be all done. (If you know, you know.)
A million things pop up all the time, forcing us to pivot. And in the small things, we don’t always notice. But bigger changes are sometimes harder.
So here’s encouragement for you – make the change if you need. There’s no scorekeeping. If something’s not working, try something new. You are brave, flexible, and capable. Keep your eyes open; who knows where your pivot might lead.
