This year will not be about goals. This year will not be about checking the box. This year will not be about the calendar. Now I am sure that the year will include goals. It will include boxes that need to be checked. It will have a calendar full of joyous events, travels, meetings, dinner dates... but it will not be about that.
I spend so much of my time focusing on the past. What went well, what didn't. Times that were great, and times that were not the best. I reevaluate. I remember. I reminisce. This super good to do; do not hear that it is not. I love looking at old pictures, thinking about memories of happy times and sad times, and figuring out how something could have been better and planning for the next time.
But in the times that I am not thinking about the past, I am focused on the future. The planning. The expecting. The anticipating. Looking at when I can fit this in, or that in. Looking toward the next step or the next moment.
I struggle with the present. I struggle with the now.
I thought long and hard about what I want 2016 to be about and God is just telling me, screaming at me, to be present. Enjoy now. Cherish the smallest moments. Rejoice in the large ones. Want nothing more than what is in front of me. Stop worrying about perfection or achievements or something that is tied neatly with a bow...
Being present is so much more.
This does not mean that I do not want to have goals, that I do not want to grow and learn and curate new things. I want to continue reading. I want to continue striving for more community. I want to be more active and healthy than ever. Of course, I do. But I do not want the core of 2016 to be about that.
If the calendar gets too full, I want to empty it to enjoy the present. If we get to wrapped up in the events or the checklist, I want to throw them away. I want to allow space for those small moments to happen. I want to create intentionality to absorb joy in the now.
So it's official! My word for 2016 is "present". Have you picked a word for 2016?? I would absolutely love to hear it!!
