Hello, 2014!

I'm not into New Year's resolutions. I find that it's so easy to get all sorts of excited about a new year and end up being super ambitious by setting unrealistic expectations. And lets be honest, most of these "resolutions" never last past January or maybe February. Usually I pass on the "new year new me" idealized list making altogether. This year I decided to prayerfully chose a word that I want to live up to in 2014. I know quite a few people do this and I believe it will be a more realistic way to challenge myself throughout the year. Rather than choosing a few short-term goals, labeling them "resolutions" and forgetting them by the time the first month of year has elapsed, I've resolved to live up to my word. I'm going to shape my year around this word. I'll come back to it throughout the year and remind myself what I want out of 2014. The word I've chosen for my 2014 is "flourish". According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of flourish is as follows...

Flourish
: to grow well : to be healthy
: to be very successful : to do very well
: to hold up and show (something) in an excited or proud way

I want to flourish in 2014!! I want to grow- as a wife, mother, and woman of God. I want to be healthy- continue eating right and exercising. I want to be successful/do well in every aspect of my life. I want to excel as a wife and mother. I want to love and show that love more than ever to my husband and son! I want to make sure that they know, through my words and actions, how very much I care about them. I want to be proud of my life- no comparisons, no negativity, no being my own biggest critic. I want to flourish in every way possible. For me, this includes slowing down, lowering some of my expectations, and forcing myself to always look for the good. I'm typically an optimist to begin with but in some areas (especially when it comes to myself) I can set my standards way too high. In those cases, I need to give myself (and others) a break and let some things slide. I want to seek out to good in every situation rather than focus on the bad. I know that 2014 is going to bring a lot of changes for my little family. And along with those changes with come new challenges and stressors. I want to be the type of woman who takes those things in stride and trusts God through it all.

I want to flourish. To grow. To be good, better than I was in 2013. I want to shape my life in such a way that I can confidently proclaim that I am proud of who I am and what I've done, and reflect that praise back to my ever-faithful God. 2014 will be my year, my family's year, to flourish.