Welcome to February, friends! I’ve been mulling over what I want my word for 2018 to be and it’s taken me a month to decide on one. I gave up New Year’s Resolutions years ago because they never seem to stick, but I love the idea of choosing a word to help guide me through the year and bring me back to my most central goals.

So what word did I choose?

Grace. More specifically, giving myself more grace. If pregnancy has taught me anything, it’s that I have so little control. So instead of trying to make everything in my life fit and work perfectly, my goal is to give myself more grace when it doesn’t.

In one of my favorite books, Grace, Not Perfection, Emily Ley says, “We live in a society of more, faster, and extra. So we feel the need to respond more, faster, and extra. Such a useless exercise. So much joy can be found in slowing down.” With a baby almost here (3 weeks!!), I want to slow down and enjoy that time. The stress of keeping my business afloat and finances on track and the house in order while trying to balance that precious time with a newborn has overwhelmed me a bit lately. (This is normal, right?) But I’m trying to remind myself that it’s ok if an email doesn’t get answered right away. It’s ok if the laundry doesn’t get done today. It’s ok if I need to take a nap instead of showing up to each and every event. It’s ok if pizza is what’s for dinner…again.

To me, part of grace is realizing what you have and not focusing on the negatives. My sweet husband reminded me of that the other night when I was upset about some last-minute house projects we’re having done, and our house being a disaster zone. Instead of saying, “It’s all going to be ok,” he made me repeat after him: “We have a safe, warm home to bring our baby boy home to. My business will survive and there will always be new ways to grow. We can cover all of our bills because we’ve worked hard to get out of debt.” It’s amazing what a difference saying those affirmations out loud made.

Grace is also accepting that I am not perfect, and that’s ok. I am not the perfect wife. I am not the perfect boss lady. I do not have a green thumb and I’m not particularly tidy. I don’t cook a well-rounded meal on a regular basis. And I won’t be the perfect parent. Whew, that last one. That weighs on my hormonal self. But that’s where grace comes in.

Alright, enough rambling for one day!

Do you have a word of the year? What is it?

Interested in my words of years past?
2015 – Intentional
2016 – Fearless
2017 – Breathe