Hope--We aren't Old Dogs and we can learn new tricks!

Every year I eagerly open my new journal on Jan. 1, and I write down goals for the upcoming year.  In September, I revisit those goals and revive them....New Years revisited.  I go through the same ritual on my birthday.  Why do I do this?  Because I know this old dog can learn new tricks!  God has been working on me with mercy for over 56 years.  Some sins and bad habits, He has totally obliterated from my life, and other things are persistent.  I used to blame myself for the slowness of my stubborn refusal to change, but I'm beginning to see that God's timing is perfect.  Sins are easier than habits to change.  But, as the Bible says, "she" who knows what she should do and doesn't do it, sins."  So, my struggle is often merely trying to figure out how guilty I am?
What would parenting have looked like had my children had a slim mother who didn't focus on weight and food so much?  Then again, maybe I would have been a hungry, grouchy mom....as it was we had quite a bit of fun sometimes.  I do know we would have all been better off had I not had so much emotional angst over all of the things I didn't like about myself....because, and there's that word again, "I" focused too much on "me, myself and I".
     What if, since I have given my life to Christ, everything has been working out for my good and the good of those around me all of the time?  What if I couldn't have handled being thin...until now, of course.  :)  What if I couldn't have handled a writing career...until now, of course!  What if I would have gotten hit by a truck running the Marine Corps Marathon...huah!  So....what if....things are going just the way they are supposed to be going?
You know what?  That gives me hope.  I can set goals and actually accomplish them.  I'm 56 and my life is still in front of me.  The best can be yet to come, because now I can focus on what God has given me to do.  Don doesn't have to get bored with the same old wife everyday, because I am not the same old wife every day....he can only wish!  :)  Jesus came so that we could have life...and not only that....abundant life!  That doesn't mean a lot of stuff....it means an excellent, full life...and then eternity!  That gives me great hope!  Now, it's time for those summer goals!  :)