#OneWord 2019: Reflections

Each January, I decide to focus my New Year's Resolutions (or intentions) through one word. This helps me to keep it simple.

 2019's #oneword was WILL. Will has two meanings. One is about action- saying you will do something.

 This past year, my intentions for action were laid out with these goals:
  • I WILL take my vitamins every day
  • I WILL make time to read/write 
  • I WILL make time for prayer and spiritual growth
  • I WILL put my phone down
During 2019, I took vitamins more than I have in a long time. I researched all different things my body should have to keep me healthy. Researching for me, also meant researching about what Josh needs and the boys need. I learned about ingredients and how to get good things into my body as natural as possible. 

 I read a lot and wrote a lot. Taking time to read or write has morphed tremendously when I began my educational content writing for Project Explorer. I've technically wrote more than I ever have and that feels great. I also created more blogs than I have since 2013. I was less intentional than I thought about journaling. I know how powerful journaling can be and I even have a morning journal I really like. I did well for a while, but that totally dropped off.
I made some improvements checking my email less and being more intentional about how I use my phone.  

 As for my spiritual growth, I think that's the place for which I'm most disappointed in 2019. I need work there, plain and simple. I'd like to be meditating, I'd like to be reading, I'd like to be spending quiet time in prayer. This all comes down to needing to be intentional with my 'me' time.  

WILL also has a second piece- having will, having perseverance, having determination. I wanted to practice will to allow me to do each of these things more:
  • eating healthy
  • exercising
  • taking care of myself
  • using willpower to set limits and boundaries  
Each of these things had ebbs and flows of doing better at times and doing terrible at times. To celebrate, I think I did the best at exercising. I wanted to try micro exercising- doing a little bit each day instead of doing longer workouts less often. I did see the benefits of that and did find myself having a couple of months where I worked out almost every single day. That made me feel really proud. 

 The worst of these, I think, is the last one... my willpower. Particularly with food. I'm writing this to weighing more than I have in many years (without being pregnant). I'm not saying no, I'm not setting limits on how much or how often I indulge or eat 'bad.' 

 Overall, I really liked this #oneword, WILL was probably my favorite #oneword I've ever done. I reflected on it often, I set and re-set goals throughout the year, and it was often on my brain. For the first time, I also used #oneword with my students. At the start of 2019, when we returned from winter break, they all came up with words and we were intentional about them as well- focusing on whatever word they chose, being mindful of it, revisiting it. I think my students helped me stay accountable with my word WILL as well. 

 I think I'm heading into this new year ready again to be intentional and thoughtful and start the year off right.

 Bring it on, 2020!!! 

 Happy New Year, everyone!

 Love, Kristin 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear School Board Members

My name is Kristin- I am a teacher, a learner, and a global citizen. I have four sons going through this public school system. I thought I might enlighten you to what a day looks like for one of my sons.... He wakes up over two hours before school starts. This gives him enough time to take care of regular routines like getting dressed, making his bed, and eating breakfast. This early morning start allows him to spend a bit of time relaxing and gives him some much needed time to work on homework. When you get 6-8 pages of math homework per week, the expectation of reading every night, and spelling/vocabulary work, sometimes you need the mornings AND the evenings to stay caught up. The school day starts. My son is in school for more than four hours before he eats lunch. During this 4+ hours he is experiencing a very long literacy block. He needs to sit still, he needs to listen, he needs to work fast. My son does not work fast- he has always taken his time. I love that about ...
Read more

Bikini Body Mommy and Diastasis Recti

I did not exercise while I was pregnant at all out of fear. I am usually a runner and from someone who had two miscarriages previously, I would have been content with lying with my legs in the air for nine months if someone would have let me do it; I wasn't moving any extra than I needed to. I know that exercising is safe and this was an irrational fear, but I wasn't taking the chance. When I was pregnant with Nolan and Judah, I gained almost 65 pounds.  This is very much within normal, healthy, range for twins.  You can imagine what that extra weight plus having two babies in my uterus did to my body.  Towards the end of my pregnancy, I could barely walk around my house or to the mailbox or up and down stairs without being winded, tired, and incredibly sore.  My ankles, knees, and thighs were literally giving out from the extra weight in my abdomen area. After the boys were born, I had to reteach myself how to move and exercise.  The pregna...
Read more

Drugs AREN'T funny

Over the weekend I made one of the biggest To-Do lists I've ever made.  I am in one of those states where it feels I have so much to do that I can't even start.  Where you wander around from room to room knowing there are things you need to take care of so you clean a little, organize a little, grade a little and nothing actually gets completed.  It's overwhelming and makes me feel heavy.  My need to control things aka "my crazy" really gets out of wack. I say that because I should not be writing this right now.  I'm supposed to be grading papers, but I saw something today that made my To-Do list go out the window and compelled me to write this blog right this second. I read an article posted on a former co-worker's facebook page about a Saturday Night Live skit.  It was poking fun at medicine's like NyQuil, but it was called "Heroin AM."  I found myself frustrated, saddened, disappointed, but especially angry reading the article and seei...
Read more