The struggle to take back me (and my word for 2015)

Over the past week, I thought I was just going to scrap my word/phrase of the year. I’ve been irritated and not my best self for the last month or so and figured why push myself on the feeling better, being better front. We all want that, but sometimes we just need to BE in the space that we currently occupy.

I feel like I’ve been stuck on repeat.

I want to do all the things. I want to be all the things. But that’s not how life works.

Recently I decided to accept good enough. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have goals or dreams that I’m pushing to achieve; it just means that sometimes we need to accept our stage of life. It means that we can’t do it all in one season.

We all want to have it all. We just need to learn that having it all doesn’t mean all at once. It more than likely means you’ll get it one thing at a time.

Last year, I started a journey to take back me. I was so caught up in being the best mother/wife/marketer I could be that I was losing out on taking care of me, my needs, my desires.

It’s a battle. I’ve realized that it’s something I’m going to need to work on every day. And I’m not alone. I started a Facebook group that currently has just over 80 people that are wanting to do the same thing – take back ourselves, whether that means our health, our fitness, our relationships, our passions. (Want to join? Let me know, we’d love to have you.)

I just started reading an advanced copy of The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You by Jessica Turner. Every single page has me nodding along, screaming YES, YES, YES in my head. She talks about the need many of us have to be all things to all people. That’s a very draining way to live.

So today, my 37th birthday, I am declaring my word of the year to be EMBRACE. I hope to embrace the current phase of life I’m in and focus on the joy it brings me, not the things that I feel are lacking. I want to spend valuable time with my family and friends, to focus on fun and not on expectations. I want to embrace the opportunities I’ve been given through my work and this blog. Of course, I strive to be better, I always do. But better doesn’t mean more; it doesn’t mean busy; it doesn’t mean chaos.

This year needs to be about focusing on where I am, not necessarily where I’m going. If I focus too much on the future, I’m going to miss all the joy that’s going on around me now. I’d hate for that to happen.

Happy 2015! May you embrace the joy around you and find some time for yourself amidst the craziness of life.

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