It's winding down now this Sunday evening, and one passage from the bible that really comes to mind right now is "Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 34:14
I first heard a commentary on this verse from Rabbi Daniel Lapin, where he broke it down a bit more and looked at the way the words were placed. It not only says do good and stop doing evil, but rather turn away from evil first, and then do good, emphasizing that you need to stop doing evil before you start doing good. Likewise, 'seek peace and pursue it' you have first to find out what peace looks like before you can start pursuing it.
I was specifically thinking about this because it's the end of a long day with several hours of driving and meeting new people, and my willpower is very depleted. When this happens, I start doing things that are not in line with who I want to be. I've struggled with being overweight my entire life and only just last year did I lose nearly 100lbs in 7 months; though it was quite an achievement, keeping it off and avoiding the wrong foods is much harder. I needed to turn from evil, or in this case, stop eating what I shouldn't. That was my first and only goal, and until I reach that, I cannot move on to doing good, which would be working out and getting into better shape athletically.
I think this can be applied to most things that we are doing that don't align with who you need to be. The first step is right now, at the moment, this very second, what are you doing, and does it align with who you're meant to be? It doesn't wait until tomorrow, next week, or the next new year.
I've discovered that the 'big battle' we are all preparing for in life is right now. It is how we treat those around us. It is those seemingly small interactions or decisions. It is that choice of taking a moment before responding. It is doing the right thing even when we don't feel up to it. It is telling the truth even though it damages our pride. This moment is the big battle, and sometimes it is easy, and we are confident, but many times it is not; at the end of a long stressful day, it is how you choose to respond in those moments that reveal who you really are.