Embrace

Last year in addition to making 3 goals for the new year I also chose a word/phrase to focus on. My phrase last year was "be present". This was something that for me personally I really needed to focus on. I had found myself mindlessly scrolling social media instead of enjoying the time with family and friends. I would pack my calendar as full as I could which ultimately lead me to not being able to focus on a task at hand because my mind would be running a million miles a minute just thinking of all that I had committed to. I knew that needed to change so I made "be present" my motto for the year. I am not going to sit here and tell you I was perfect at it but I did get better about putting my phone down so that I could create better memories with my family and friends. I stopped saying "yes" to every little thing so that I could be present physically and mentally for the things and people who matter most to me. 

I saw a difference in my life because of that little phrase and knew that I wanted to pick a word again this year that would help me improve as a person. I bounced around a few different words and I kept coming back to the word EMBRACE. 

2018 is going to be a big year for us, full of lots of change. It will be full of ups and downs because let's be honest, every year is. I'm not always great with change. I can be kind of a control freak so when things don't go according to my plans I tend to freak out and the anxiety kicks in. 

That is the main reason I chose the word embrace. I really want to focus on WELCOMING all the change instead of freaking out about it and getting stressed out.

Embrace also means to take or clasp in the arms, to encircle, to surround. These are all things I want to focus on when it comes to my loved ones. With all the tragedies and illnesses in the world, I want to truly embrace my loved ones. I would hate for something bad to happen to someone I love and always have to question if they knew how much they meant to me. 

I would love to hear what your goals for the year are (I'm still working on coming up with mine) or if you also have a word/motto for the year and feel like sharing, I would love to hear (maybe I'll even use it in the future!)