Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash

Happy New Year, friends! At the beginning of each year, I choose one word to focus on and share it with you on my blog. Ali Edwards’s One Little Word inspired this tradition, and the renewed mindset around setting new year’s resolutions has changed my life considerably. Choosing a word of the year to focus on forces me to let go of the thought that I need to do all the things and inspires me to live life slowly and with intention. Click to read my 2018, 2019, and 2020 words.

I usually start brainstorming my word of the year a few months before the New Year. But this year, I knew in my heart that my 2021 word of the year is balance. Merriam-Webster’s definition of balance means to bring into harmony or proportion. For me, it means to feel good in mind, body, and spirit.

In my last blog post of the year, Best of 2020, I talked about how being vulnerable led me to my most creative year yet. Prioritizing my mental health throughout one of the toughest years ever was one of the best things I could have done for myself. But, now that we’re in a New Year, I’m ready to incorporate the other parts of my wellness routine that make me feel whole.

This year, I’d like to:

• Finally, start balancing my hormones

• Cook and eat more whole foods

• Create a wellness plan that works for me in this new environment

• Build my spiritual health and relationship with Jesus through prayer

But can I be real for a moment? The perfectionist in me feels scared about making “balance” my word of the year because I’m afraid of failing. Will I be able to balance life in addition to the little mental health bubble I created for myself? What if my old routines don’t make me feel whole anymore? Then I hear and feel my highest self being so, so graceful with me. She reminds me that it’s okay to feel scared, but it’s not okay to let fear keep me where I am.

Thank you for allowing me to share this personal note with you year after year. I’m really looking forward to being a little more balanced in the New Year.