If you were to pick one word to represent your hopes and desires for this new year, what would you pick?

Last year my theme was “let go” which is actually two words, but I came back to these ALL the time. Whenever I lost my focus, I would remind myself to let go and adapt and to accept what was presenting itself to me. I practiced letting go of expectations that stood in the way of my ability to feel joy. By letting go, I freed myself to be ok with what was and not what I was hoping for if that makes any sense. By letting go, I let other people be too. It allowed me to release judgement which was strange and liberating at the same time. Of course, I wasn’t always good at this process, but when I was, it worked to create happiness not only for myself but also for the person who was “disappointing” me.

For example, I let go of the expectation that my husband would be home at a given time. I let go of the need to receive acknowledgement from texts right away and didn’t feel like the other person was ignoring me. I was patient and let go of the imaginary expected time they had to respond. This is liberating! When friends had to change plans at the last minute, I let them do what they needed to do without expressing any regret and made other plans. I think the ability to let go and adapt are critical skills to enabling our happiness.

The year before my word was “flow.” I wanted to learn to flow with whatever came my way and to be less controlling. This worked wonders for creating inner peace. I share these ideas in case they might ignite a spark in you too.

This year I’ve chosen my word to be “togetherness.” I want to be present and enjoy my time with my family and close friends, and put my phone down more often than not.

My challenge is finding the experiences that all 5 of us might be interested in sharing at the same time, which gets more challenging as everyone gets busier. I also want to be more flexible and organic in allowing life to flow and to live in the moment without having to “do” anything, if that makes any sense.

Some of the things we like to do as a family include: driving, going to the beach, barbecuing, traveling, seeing new places, going out to eat, visiting friends, cooking together, tailgating and watching sporting events, entertaining, watching tv, playing on our phones and sharing stories, taking pictures, and hanging out with each other, friends, and family.

What is your word or two that summarizes some of your goals this coming year?

Happy New Year 2015!
Xo