Believe

Oh how I’ve come to love January! The fresh new slate of a new year, the clear quiet of the post-holiday winter calendar, the bubbling up of renewed desire to work on projects and good habits…

I’ve been choosing a word for the year for several years now. Rather than a list of specific things that might or might not be relevant to me 12 months from now, a word gives me a touchstone, an intention, a mindset for how I want to make choices each year.

Last year I had an interesting journey with the word give. It was a year of transition for me and I found that give needed to be a lot more about giving to myself rather than giving of myself. Giving myself more energy through exercise and healthier eating. Giving myself the gift of practice and the liberating shift of perspective that came with it. Giving myself permission to believe in love again.

So with that new perspective, I’m beginning my year of believing. (I made myself a little bracelet to remind me.) For all that I’ve figured out how to play and relax and do things simply for the love of doing them, I’m still an intensely practical person and my practical side usually holds something in reserve. I’ve learned how to live fully in the moment, but I’m not so good at going all in on a more long-term basis.

And so my challenge, my practice, my intention for this year is to believe. To tell my practical internal naysayer “I hear you, but let’s just try this and see what happens.” I want to spend more of my time being all in. I want to believe in the things I have accomplished, in the good habits I’ve instilled, and in the things I hope for, the things I dream of, the ways I want to live my life.

What challenges are you taking on with the new year?