This time of year is one of reflection, of looking back from where we’ve come and looking ahead to the future. For just about anyone, looking ahead can fill us with a number of feelings from overwhelm to uncertainty to fear to excitement to anticipation.
Most of you know my story, my grief journey and from where I’ve come. While it hasn’t been easy, the past three years have caused me to look more internally than I ever have in my life. I already am a live-in-my-head kind of person, so this self-reflection at first filled me with much anxiety, over thinking every decision and letting my self be filled with fear over the future.
The first year (2020) was mostly numb, drowning out the noise and doing what I could to survive (grief, Covid, solo parenting, the whole bit) and find joy and meaning, trusting in God’s purposes and promises despite my circumstances. The second year was actually harder than the first, making some life changes and moving and trying to settle into new routines. The anxiety with all of the changes reached its peak, and I knew I needed to find help outside of myself. I started my counseling journey, and it led me back to my center.
This year I have experienced more healing and growth than I ever dreamed was possible. Somewhere along the line I learned to shed back the layers of self-doubt and trust that inner voice. I learned to let go of what I felt I “should” do and do what I knew was right and best for me. My people pleasing nature is slowly slipping away, and I am learning how to align my decisions and actions with my heart and my values without feeling the need to please everyone else. It truly is the most freeing feeling to live your life in alignment with who you are. It only took me 40 years to get here, ha.
I’ve never been a resolutions person, but I do go into each year hoping to learn and grow and become the best version of myself. Going into 2023, my word of the year is align. I want my heart to align with my mind and my actions to align with my values. I want my life to align with God’s purposes for me. I want who I am to align with who I am made to be.
Going into this year I pray that I would continue to grow into myself. That my girls would see the confidence within me and that they would learn and grow alongside me. I pray that I would continue to adapt and trust my inner knowing of each step of this journey. I am grateful for my deep-feeling heart and sensitive soul that God has given me, as it allows me to embrace with joy the beautiful relationships He’s given me and to find joy in this process, even when it’s hard. I am grateful for my creative outlet, that God gives me the words not just for myself to heal but to also share with others. I pray that I would continue to have the courage to do so. I am grateful for the depth within me, that I can experience the richness and beauty of this life and see it for what it is in spite of the hard stuff. I wouldn’t be me without my willingness to be open, to be vulnerable, to be brave. It is when we come into ourselves and embrace it that we truly live in alignment with who we are.
Step by step, one day at a time. I’m aligning my heart and my values and putting them into action. I am growing into the best version of myself and who I am made to be.
She Speaks True Words 
3 thoughts on “Word of the Year: Align.”