2019

It seems that everyone thinks resolutions are cliche. There is such a high failure rate that most people think why even bother! In the past few years there has been a trend towards choosing a word for the year instead of resolutions. The first one or two years I chose a word, I ended up forgetting what the word was or didn't let it guide my actions at all. In December 2017 I decided that my word for 2018 was going to be GRACE. I had a teeny baby and toddler running around so I knew I was in major need of grace, from myself and everyone around me. Little did I know how much that word would truly impact my year!

In early 2018 I was diagnosed with PPA and had to make some serious changes to my routine. I had to turn all of my focus onto healing myself and finding a good self-care routine. I had to ask for help and accept it when it was offered. I had to give myself ALL THE GRACE. It took quite awhile to feel better but had I not shown myself grace most of all, I'm not sure I would have been able to heal. It meant making an effort each day and at the end of the day, letting things go when they didn't get done. I felt so much of God's grace surround me as I worked through each day.

Another goal I had in 2018 was to document our lives through the 1 Second Everyday app. In 2017, I did a weekly self-portrait project and wanted to do something completely different last year. I loved how the video turned out! I had to push myself to document more videos than photos and although some months were a flop, I had some form of memory to add in for every single day.

This year I decided to have set monthly resolutions as well as choosing two words for the year. I chose HEART + HANDS as my focus words. You know the saying, "If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart!" I have some big dreams that God has placed on my heart as far as our family goes and that saying just keeps popping out at me. This is the second year in a row that I found a planner with my inspiration word on the cover! I know God will open my heart + hands to accept whatever His plan is for our family.

 On top of those dreams, I wanted to set a monthly resolution to work on a new skill or improve a skill I've worked on in the past. So far I've picked out my resolutions for January, February, and March! My hope is to blog a couple times a week about how I'm working towards those resolutions each week to keep myself on track. I know for myself, when I try to work on a goal for long periods of time I end up falling off the wagon. I hope by focusing on each resolution for just a month at a time, I will find a good routine to continue those skills after I've moved on.

I'd love to hear what resolutions or goals you have for this year! If you chose a word for 2019, what was it?