Cheers to a new decade, y’all!

I hope everyone had a great New Year holiday!

I was still recovering from the flu, so Harry & I stayed in this year! I told him I was sad that I couldn’t go out and wear my sparkly clothes this year and he said, “I’ll bring you sparkling grape juice instead.” LOL, so this year we had take- out food & sparkling grape juice at home to ring in the new year!

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Each year around new year, I really do think about what I’d like to accomplish, new goals, and new year resolutions. I think you’re either really into this sort of thing or you’re not.

My goals are like most people’s new year goals. I want to eat healthier, work out more often, work hard, etc. This year, however, I kept thinking about life and time in general. The word, intentional kept coming to me.

I want to be more intentional in all aspects of life. Instead of saying things like, “I want to hit this number on the scale” or “I want to hit this milestone,” I just want to be more intentional in all things.

First and foremost, I want to be more intentional about my relationship with Jesus. For me, Jesus is the center of my world. Everything else will align if I’m right with Him, first. I want to be intentional by carving out quiet time each morning to spend with Him. I always try this and it works for a while, then I slip off track. Usually, this happens because I’m not giving myself enough time in the mnornings. I want to be intentional about setting my alarm 15 minutes earlier to spend that time in the word. It sets the tone for my day in all the right ways, when I intentionally do this and I’m not just squeezing my quiet time in, if I can.

I want to be intentional about my health. I don’t want to be on a diet. I just want to be more intentional about eating healthy and choosing healthier options for meals. The minute I call something a diet is the minute I want everything that is not good for me.

I also want to be intentional about finding work- outs that are a good fit for me. I want to find things I enjoy doing. For example, I enjoy yoga. Doing more of this throughout the week, will keep me active and it’s something I enjoy so I won’t dread doing it. I think finding workouts we enjoy, will help keep us active instead of pushing ourselves to do things we hate.

I want to be more intentional about being present. I love social media when it is used the right way- for positivity and using it for healthy time lengths. I think it is so easy to scroll mindlessly on your phone and before you know it, you have wasted 30 minutes, an hour, two hours.. I want to be more intentional when I get on my phone. I want to intentionally sit down to scroll and see my family/ friends posts, read my favorite blogs, etc. Then, get off my phone. I think if I do this a couple times a day, it will keep me from constantly picking up my phone and mindlessly scrolling. Carve out a little bit of time here and there.

I also want to be inentional about my time/ sleep. I’m one of those people that needs 8 hours of sleep to function and not be out of energy by the end of the day. Therefore, I want to be intentional about making sure I get 8 hours of sleep so I can be intentional and use my energy and time wisely throughout the day. I want to feel accomplished at the end of the day and know I’ve earned my 8 hours of sleep at night.

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In saying these things, let me also say this:

I want to be intentional in all aspects each day and do what I can.

Notice, I said “do what I can” NOT “do everything.”

The minute I set, unrealistic expectations and try to do everything on my to- do list in a day, I start to feel defeated, anxiety kicks in, and i’m left feeling drained.

Again, just be intentional.. don’t set unrealistic expectations.

I wrote a blog post (see below) over a year ago about giving yourself grace. I reread it a couple days ago and it was a great reminder for the new year to work hard, but always remember to give yourself some grace because no one is perfect!

If you have time, I encourage you to read my story about how I had to learn to give myself grace: Tell All Tuesday: Give Yourself Some Grace

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I think we live in a world now where the world tells us to do more, achieve greatness, look at your neighbor- you can do this, and so on… While I’m all for working hard, remember to follow Jesus’ plan first and foremost, do what you CAN- not EVERYTHING, and remember to give yourself some grace!