WORD OF THE YEAR
It is so crazy to think that it is already 2022. Even though the last 2 years have been crazy stressful and hard they have also gone by really fast. I don’t know if it is because the world seems to be at a standstill in many ways but also moving forward too that has me wondering how the heck mid January is upon us but, here we are.
Anyways, many years ago I stopped doing New Years resolutions realizing that I was just setting myself up for failure (I mean, how many of us actually stick to those resolutions?) and instead, I started doing a word of the year. Over the years my words have been - intentional, fearless, bold, alive, joyful and even survive* (*clears throat, 2021 LOL). These words are given to me by God after a lot of prayer and time seeking Him towards the end of the year and into the new year. I never want to just pull these words out randomly, I always want them to be purposeful and in line with what I feel like God is calling me to in the new year.
As we ended 2021 and began to think about 2022 I will be honest and say that I almost ditched the whole word of the year thing and thought many times “what does it matter, the pandemic will have its way anyways”. Gosh, I wish I could hug the Kate a few weeks ago that just kept thinking that. The reality is that yes, life will happen and there is still a pandemic but that doesn’t mean that I abandon ship and forget the whole reason I started doing these words in the first place. I started because I wanted to be in tune with what God was calling me to. I wanted to set an intention or mantra for the year. I wanted to be focused on ways that I could improve my life, personally and professionally. I wanted to always come back to these words when times were good and when times were tough.
So, here I am….entering 2022 with another word.
What is my word?
Great question! My word for 2022 is self-full.
What does self-full mean? Why did I choose it?
Over the years I have learned that as much as I didn’t think I was a people pleaser…I am. I often confuse being selfless and serving others with forgetting about my own needs and letting people walk all over me. In the pursuit of wanting to love people well, I forgot to love myself too. On the other end of the spectrum, I have a fear of being selfish. I know this is born out of childhood trauma but it is something that I always think about, I never want people to think I am selfish, especially my husband and children. But, that left me again neglecting my own needs and letting myself fall to the side, often times not wanting to hurt others and instead hurting myself.
In November when I went to the Founded + Funded Retreat, I heard this new to me term….self-full.
Self-full is basically the act of prioritizing your own needs and wants while also having boundaries with yourself and others. I like to think of it as the happy medium between being selfish and selfless. I can serve others without neglecting myself and I can also prioritize myself without neglecting others. It’s this balance of caring for me, but also caring for you. I loved how one of the coaches reminded me that taking care of myself is not a detriment to my family, it actually helps them and as long I am not hurting someone else, why can’t I prioritize myself too?
So, in 2022 I am focusing on my worth, on my needs, on my wants/desires/dreams. I want to be self-full so that I can serve my family well. So that I can serve my friends and my community well. And, so that I can serve myself well too!
I am praying that in 2022, I can let go of the strongholds that hold me back, I can release the fears I have around doing things just for me and that in turn….a happier, healthier Kate means a happy and healthier wife, mom, granddaughter, friend.
Cheer to the new year friends. New Year, Same Me….just working on treating her better! 💗
