Ringing in a new year has always been intentional to me. You see, I take New Year’s Day to a whole new level. It is truly my beginning. A fresh start. A goal setting tradition. A clean slate of epic proportions. It all started January 1, 1980… the day I was born.
My New Year
So, on January 1 to mark the new year and my birthday, I start with my word of the year… and this year, it happens to be the exact same word as last year, because, well, I was not done. Not quite. Not ever. My word is: Intentional. Intentional loving. Intentional presence. Intentional self control. Intentional eating. Intentional exercise. Intentional learning. Intentional speech. Intentional thoughts. Intentional reactions. Intentional emotions. Intentional relationships. Intentional marriage. Intentional parenting. Intentional decisions. Intentional money saving. Intentional money spending. Intentional projects. Intentional homestyle. Intentional work. Intentional play. Intentional listening. Intentional spirituality. Intentional prayer. Intentional rest. Intentional living.
How’d It Go?
Well, how did it my 2018 intentional year go, you ask? It went okay. It went well. It went crappy. It went. The reason I’m using it again is because I realized… it’s the word I need to start off EVERY year with. Yes, I will screw it up. I’ll forget. I’ll intentionally NOT do these things. I’ll be human. But, I’ll intentionally get back up and do it again. So basically, I’m not really starting new. Not really. I’m just continuing in a fresh way. Maybe I’ll approach some intentionality in a new way. Maybe I’ll get ideas from others. Maybe from YOU.
Reflection
That’s the best we can do. We always think back, on December 31, and reflect on our failures: We ate out too much… Oh, how I sucked at parenting… Stayed distracted and totally blew right past all those Pinterest quoted #marriagegoals… Forgot all about working out by January 3rd… Never texted that friend I meant to catch up with… Spent wayyyy too much time on social media… Didn’t pray enough. Hard enough. Long enough. Good enough.
Let’s Do This
I’m all for it- let’s intentionally start off the year by understanding we all need improvement, but by reflecting on the amazing things we accomplished: I still made dinner more often than we ate out… Our kids are giggling together in the next room… My husband and I connected by just watching tv together alone… I walked instead of taking the elevator… We can still send a better-late-than-never text… We intentionally put our phones away each morning for the first 30 mins, and never had it at meals or bedtime… I still prayed…
Started With a Bang
Yep, this year started out with a literal bang, as my (now) son in law was in a near fatal car accident … a few months later, my daughter graduated high school… two weeks later, she got engaged… a few months later, they were married. So many emotions, such a whirlwind! I now will live by the quote, “The days are long, but the years are short.” There is no other truer saying, I will intentionally embrace and live it.
Join Me!
So now, today marks not just a “fresh start”, but an intentional continuation of our lives. Let’s make it an even better one- with new goals. And of course, it also marks the very first last time in my 30s, and while I can’t believe it’s here, I can’t wait to start. Happy New Year, y’all! Be intentional.
Xoxo Melissa
Joelamarie says
May 25, 2019 at 5:13 pmI love your blog, its so beautiful love reading this article. So much fun so much love & so happy reading this 🙂
functionalfarmhouse says
June 3, 2019 at 2:40 pmThank you so much!!