My One-Little Word

HELLO, LOVES!

I'm BACK!

The end of 2018 brought a whirlwind of family in town, a massive Thanksgiving celebration, Christmas parties, hosting, gift wrapping, house cleaning, meal prepping, traveling CHAOS that I simply wasn't prepared for. For that reason, I had to prioritize and ultimately decided to step back from the blog a bit and spend the remaining of the year really digging into the joys of the holiday season with friends and family.

As of now, however, its 2019 (what!) and I'm here to bring you a quick little 3 minute read as I brain dump my thoughts on a new year.

First off, If I hear or see "new year, new you" one more time, I might start a campaign to end this outdated & overused slogan. The only difference between a new year is the 60 seconds between 11:59 and 12:00.

On the contrary, I will agree that there is something magical & fresh about starting the 365 day calendar back at square 1. Quite honestly, I do have a few things I want to change about my habits...dare I call them"resolutions"... (previous years attempts at a lengthy list of self-promises haven't gone so well & loose their umph by March-ish).

Before the new year, I started a mission of simplifying my world, my surroundings, my routine, my house- anything that I spend a good amount of time doing or being around got simplified. I took a horrifically honest look at the 24 hours I was given each day, and realized I was spending an atrocious amount of energy on things that ultimately don't matter...leading to stress...leading to anxiety...leading to unhealthy habits. Thankful to say, I pretty much got it down, with the exception of a few things still to tackle. Which leads me to my next thought-

A one-word year.

Nixing the extensive list of things I "should do, could do, would do" for 2019, I took about a week to think on how I could simplify the changes I desired in the new year. What I finally landed on was a one-word common thread that brought all the dreams, the goals, and the attractive accomplishments together.

That word, my friends, is stronger.

STRONGER is tangible and there are unlimited ways I can see and feel stronger physically.

STRONGER is mental and mental strength, as we know, is crucial.

STRONGER is powerful and is something that won't fade out or go anywhere.

STRONGER is meaningful in that each day there is progress, as long as you do something.

STRONGER is 2019.

I challenge you to take whatever thoughts, resolutions, habits, goals, ect. that you have about this year and boil it down to one word. I'm definitely not an expert, but I would think the idea that falling back on one big idea would keep us more accountable to ourselves if we didn't compare it to a long list of individual check boxes.

For example, on days I miss the mark on getting physically stronger, I can work on being spiritually stronger and strengthen my heart for The Lord. When mental strength work feels like it's depleting your batteries, lean on relational strength and really fortify important relationships. You create flexibility for yourself, acting each day on what feels needed and letting go of what's not, while still remaining under the umbrella of your one-word. This way, each day is a victory, and each day you are 100% accountable to yourself for what you said you would do.

So I ask you, what's your one-word?

(Tell me below- I'm eager to hear!)

Naturally,

Nicki