grow.

This year I am expecting a lot from myself. I'm not really one for resolutions if I'm being honest, particularly because it always makes me feel like I'm letting myself down when I don't follow through. This year I am participating in Ali Edward's One Little Word class, which revolves around having one word to focus on during the entire year that will help you as an individual to make a difference in your life. I could not be more excited to welcome this experience into my life instead of a resolution that you and I both know I probably won't keep based on most of the human species' track records.When I started to think of a word that I could use to define my desires and goals for this year, I went back and forth with a few, but just couldn't seem to find one that made me go ah-ha! Finally, it came to me while I was lying in bed worrying about the usual things. Grow. I need to grow this year. And not in the sense that I'm short (I'm not) or immature, but in a more profound way. I want to grow this year in all aspects of life: emotionally, spiritually, physically (I don't want to actually grow physically, but work more on growing my knowledge and understanding of healthy living and fitness), creatively, and within my existing and new relationships.For me specifically, this type of growth means rebuilding my relationship with God, doing more things that spark and nurture my creativity, applying healthy changes to my lifestyle, making attainable goals and going for them one step at a time instead of all at once and fearing failure, and becoming more patient in my everyday life. This also means less worrying, less distractions, less irritability (especially when it comes to the people I love), less trying to be superwoman and getting down on myself when I realize I can't be, and less time spent dreaming and wishing about what I want - more do.

I am so excited about this coming year because of this project. What I expect from this experience is to gain a better understanding of who I am and what I need to do for myself to change the things about my life that I can control. Once I start seeing small changes in myself, I can channel it to work towards my goals and be the person I want and need to be. I am so ready for this year to be great.

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One Little Word is a workshop run by Ali Edwards in which participants choose one word to focus on for an entire year. Join Ali, myself, and many others on this journey by learning more and signing up for the class here, read about Ali's OLW here, and see all of my related posts for OLW 2014 here.