Celebrate 2019 – My Word of the Year

A fresh new year typically brings excitement for me. It’s a clean slate; a chance to take things up a notch and become a little better than the year before. Choosing a word to drive my overall mindset for the year has become so much bigger than resolutions ever were for me.

In 2018 my word was Enough. Every single time I began to question a decision or fell into that well of guilt over something I came back to the word and reminded myself I was enough.

Did I always succeed at overcoming the negative thoughts? Nope, not initially but over time I caught myself reaching back for my word and reminding myself; sometimes even out loud.

In 2019 I will turn the big 5-0. When I started the road to 50 this past October it just felt blah. I am not going to lie, 50 sounds old to me. While I realize it is only a number and am reminded daily by so many incredible people it is only as old as you let it feel, I continue to struggle with the new external signs of aging more than I should.

This is not how I want to spend 2019 y’all! 2019 is a year I want to Celebrate! Even though it’s a word we all are familiar with, here is how the dictionary defines this verb.

Celebrate

cel·e·brate/ˈseləˌbrāt/verbverb

1. acknowledge (a significant or happy day or event) with a social gathering or enjoyable activity.
2. perform (a religious ceremony) publicly and duly, in particular officiate at (the Eucharist).
3. 3.honor or praise publicly.

So how will I choose to Celebrate in 2019? Here are some specific areas I’m choosing. Each month I hope to take a look at these and align my monthly goals accordingly.

Celebrate Salvation

Do I believe in God? Absolutely. I’d be lying to you, however, if I said I have ever truly committed to my relationship with Him. Oh sure, I pray, I’m thankful and we make it to church a few times a month but do I really know Him? Picking up the bible and trying to read it has always just left me feeling a little, well, ignorant.

In 2019 I want to Celebrate my salvation more than ever before! God has allowed me to walk this earth and I want to dig deeper into His word. My hope is by the time I turn 50 I will no longer be looking so hard at my outsides and will be so filled with the hope and the promise of God it will be hard to do anything but Celebrate.

Here is how I hope to remain focused.

• Read the bible in a year – I’m following along with a group using the Chronological plan via bible.comalong with a daily podcast review with the Bible recap. Reading the bible is hard and having these resources along with a group discussion has really helped me to understand a little better.

• Daily gratitude and quiet time – this is the first area I let go when I am overwhelmed and it should be the other way around.

• Prayer – learning how to pray for myself and others is still an area I need to really grow

Celebrate Marriage

We have a really great marriage but I would love it to be exceptional. Communication is one of our biggest challenges and when we do not spend enough time connecting with each other I see it really falter. 2018 was really, really busy and 2019 looks to be the same. Setting aside time for the two of us even if it is literally just 15 minutes alone before bed needs to be a priority.

• At least one date night each month
• Acknowledge and thank Keith for what he does do instead of focusing on what he does not
• Plan one trip alone

Celebrate Others

It is easy to celebrate others when there is a special occasion and I want to be more intentional in celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, etc. I also want to open my eyes to other ways to praise and acknowledge others for all they bring to my life on the daily.

• Send snail mail to honor birthdays, anniversaries or just to let someone know I’m thinking of them
• Praise others on their accomplishments
• Say thank you for little things
• Give compliments freely
• Give love even when the other person is hard to love

Celebrate Time

Oh sweet time! We never seem to have enough do we? This year I want to celebrate the time I do have by not wasting it. My brain is often so filled with the things I need to do and I push all those things I want to do to the bottom of the list. This year I want to slow down and remember I cannot be present and multitask at the same time.

• Work smarter not harder by organizing our activities and to dos. Outsource and delegate anything I can that will free up time.
• Put away my phone when I’m with my family
• Be willing to drop everything to do something fun

Celebrate Financial Freedom

For so many years I spent my life stressed over money. No savings, credit card debt and just a looming feeling of not ever having enough. Truth is we always had enough and were sometimes just making really crappy choices. Now that we are in a much better place we tend to not focus so much on the finances. I want to celebrate the fact we are not in a place where we live paycheck to paycheck in a more responsible way.

• Meet with a financial planner
• Set a budget and actually pay attention to it
• Continue to set aside savings and create a vacation fund

Celebrate Myself

I mean, it is MY YEAR, right? In this year as I turn a half century old, I truly want to celebrate myself too. This starts of course by taking care of me; mentally, physically and spiritually.

• Get moving every day. Whether this means taking the stairs, logging a workout or taking a long walk I want to be conscious to use my body any chance I can.
• Take care of my skin!
• Acknowledge my accomplishments (even the small ones) and learn from my mistakes.
• Give myself grace and accept downtime as a gift!

Basically, I want to celebrate all the things….every little bitty thing! When 50 hits in October I hope to be so full of joy from celebrating the year all I will be feeling is grateful to have been given one more day.

If you have not chosen a word for the year and think you might want to but are not sure where to start, my friend Erin has some tips. My words from prior years are listed here for a little more inspiration.

2015 Be Present 

2016 Receiving

2017 Waste Not

2018 Enough

You can also pop over today and visit Andrea and Chrissy as they share their words.