Love: My Word for the New Year

I’ve never done a word for the year before. To be honest, I don’t remember hearing about anyone doing this before, but I have seen a few people do it this year and decided to do it myself.

If I had to pick a word, to sum up, my 2019 is would be “survival”. The whole year was a crazy blur but I witnessed survival on so many levels.

I felt helpless as my best friend’s world came crashing down at the beginning of the year. I watched as she persevered, pressed on, and made the best out of a horrible situation. She survived.

I, myself felt like I was barely getting through some days. Lack of sleep with a newborn, adjusting to two kids under 2, alone without help for long hours many days, and dealing with downs of postpartum hormones…life was hard. But I survived.

My husband left the military after we thought he’d stay in until retirement. He worked hard and long hours in his new job. He dealt with a lot between providing for our family, my mood swings, a friend’s bad decisions, and all the unknowns of life. And he survived.

Along with my hard days and my husband’s own adjustments to our new life, our relationship took a hit. We were distant, rarely spent time together, and just didn’t get along very well. But we kept choosing each other and got through it. We survived.

As I thought about what word I would choose for 2020, I looked back at how 2019 started with so many downs and ended with so many highs. I’m so humbled by the journey we had and I’m so excited to see where this new year goes.

I decided that my word for the new year is: Love. For me, there is so much more to this word then just what you initially think.

Love your family. Love your friends.

Recently there have been devastating events I’ve seen with babies passing away unexpectedly. It has broken my heart and reminded me of my biggest fears as a mom. It has also reminded me that life is so short. Each moment is so very precious. You never know when a moment will be your last.

So this year I am reminding myself of this daily and actively soaking up every minute I get. I am going to love my family and friends more and try to always let them know exactly what they mean to me. So that there is never a doubt. I plan to not only say “I love you” but to show it through my actions every day.

Love God.

I’m guilty of putting my relationship with God on the back burner. During tough times I cling to Him but when life smoothes out I tend to do my own thing. This is not a good balance at all. One of my biggest pledges for this new year is to learn about and love God more. Every day. Even during the good times. I want to make my relationship with Him stronger and include Him in my life even more then I do now.

Love others.

A motto I’ve always lived by is to treat others how you would want to be treated. There is so much division and hate in the world. But there is also a lot of love to go around. With my kids, I lead by example and this year I want to continue what I do regularly and just continue to love on others.

It doesn’t matter if you have different views on life, politics, parenting, religion, etc. We’re all human. Less judgment and more love. Spreading love and kindness is the best example you can set for anyone watching.

Love yourself.

One of my new year goals just for myself is more self-care and self-love. As a mom getting alone time is so hard and finding time for self-care is practically impossible most days. I have slacked in this area since having kids and this year I am focused on prioritizing it again.

When you truly love yourself and take the time you need for yourself it reflects back on everyone else in your life. I plan to love myself through self-care by doing yoga and taking time to pamper myself with baths, haircare, face masks, etc. I plan to give self-love by showing myself grace and not being so hard on myself. Reminding myself I am enough and that God will get me through all the tough days.

Love animals.

My daughter, Lacey Belle is a huge animal lover. I call her my little Bindi and try to encourage her love as much as I can. Along with encouraging her, I myself am very passionate about our oceans, dolphins, and sea life. My heart is breaking for all the bushfires and animals lost in Australia currently. I want to do what I can to help.

This year I plan to show my love for animals more by continuing to encourage my daughter to give back and help animals and also bringing awareness and helping marine life any way I can.

Do what you love. Love what you do.

Life is too short to be miserable. If you are unhappy with something in your life then make a change. I struggled with not feeling like myself and having time for me after having kids. This past year I finally quit saying “one day” and just launched this blog. I decided it was time to do the things I love and wanted to do again. I am continuing this plan and mindset into this new year. I have a lot of writing and blog growth goals for this year. I am putting in the work because it is what I love.

Live with more invention. Live with more love.

With my new blog and brand venture these past few months, I have been spending a lot more time on my phone and laptop. In response to the extra time, I spend on electronics I am making just as big of an effort to be more present with my kids.

I want to make sure no matter how much I work this new year that I spend more time being intentional with my time and being present with my kids. I want to live with more love so that my kids always know they come before any work or projects that I may have going on.

Live. Laugh. Love.

I’ve always tried to live with no regrets. It’s my biggest motto. I try to live every day to its fullest. I believe laughter really is the best medicine. And love is the best thing in the world. Just living, laughing, and loving help to make my days brighter.

All about love.

I want this year to be all about love. No matter what life brings this year, I want to live love out loud. I want to show love to myself and others. I want to be an example of love. I want to do all things in love. I want to love my life. I challenge you all to love this year too.

Love more. Love Bigger. Love deeper.