Hi there! It has been a little while since I’ve posted here so I’ve got a LOT to tell you about! I’ve been working on some new projects and planning for 2019 so it can be the best year yet! I have a feeling this New Year is going to be one that is full of SUCCESS!
What makes this year so much different than years past you might ask? This year we are teaming up with some amazing talent and building partnerships that are going to set things on FIRE! I’m not doing this alone anymore! I work best when I am WITH people! I love having a virtual team of people that I can share ideas with, geek out about the things we love, and most of all who inspire me to reach my full potential so I can do the same for others! I can’t wait to tell you all about the big plans we have, but for now, let’s talk about what has happened this year and the coming New Year!
Each year since 2014 I have chosen a word for the year. I have had a variety of words over the years and as I think back, I can see how they have all been inter-related. As this year wraps up, I thought it would be helpful to take a look back at 2018 and share a few of the highlights and lessons learned over the last year. Every year has it wins and loses, but our story is created in how we choose to remember them.
In 2018 I had a really hard time settling on a word. I wanted a word that represented life and growth. I had been through many changes in the few months before the new year and needed to let go of the past and really focus on what makes me come alive. I finally settled on the word Cultivate for 2018 and really enjoyed seeing the “fruit” of that word (pun intended) as the year unfolded.
One of the best things I did in 2018 was planting a garden. If you follow me on social media, you have heard the stories of the bounty I harvested from my garden and some of my lessons and adventures along the way. When I was growing up, my parents always had a garden. In fact, they are in their mid-seventies and they still have quite a sizable garden to this day. They LOVE gardening. However, due to the fact that I saw the garden as a burden and way more work than I had the time for I really never did much more than a few tomatoes and strawberries.
After reading the book, “Cultivate” by Lara Casey, I was motivated to give gardening another try. We had also moved into a new house that already had the perfect size garden plot all laid out. My mom brought me some seed catalogs and the planning began. I stuck with the basics this year. I know that when I try to do too many things at once (which is a serious temptation as an Enneagram 7) I get overwhelmed and lose the joy and therefore the motivation.
With the help of my parents, I learned how to rototiller, fertilize (read add cow poop), plant and care for my new garden. I planted strawberries, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, green beans, corn, asparagus, and raspberries. I later added a couple of pumpkins which died and two rows of sunflowers that actually lived and brought me so much joy!
What did I learn? Other than gardening that is. I learned that I really do enjoy pulling weeds. Even though pulling weeds was used as a punishment or a way to earn a privilege when I was growing up, I learned how to actually enjoy pulling weeds this year. How in the world could I enjoy pulling weeds you might ask? My secret was that I wouldn’t go out there and look at the whole garden and fret about where I would begin and how overwhelming all the weeds were. Nope! Instead, before I ever went out to the yard I set an intention for what part of the weeds I would pull that day. I would just pull the weeds in one section at a time and that made it so much more doable!
The other thing I did was I discovered podcasts and Hoopla this year. I found so many podcasts that I LOVED listening to and it would encourage me to stay in the garden longer so I could listen. A few of my favorite podcasts this year have been: Real Talk for Real Teachers, Typology, Rise, Revelation Wellness, For the Love, Brain Warriors Way, Go-Getters, Mind Your Business, Goal Digger, and Kwik Brain to name a few. Some of my favorite audio books on Hoopla have been Girl Wash Your Face, Love Does, Power of the Other, Rising Strong, and Mess and Moxie. If you haven’t listened to Jen Hatmaker or Rachel Hollis read their own book you have to do it! They are so much fun!
One last lesson from the garden was a lesson in moderation. I learned that you don’t need multiple cucumber, zucchini, or squash plants. You will literally have HUNDREDS of veggies! I had cucumbers coming out my EARS!! I also learned that green beans are a LOT of work! I am revising my plan for the garden in 2019. I will not be planting as many of the above named veggies and NO green beans. I can just buy them at the store or farmers market! I will be planting pumpkins in place of the beans and I will be planting more sunflowers!
I have always known how much I enjoy being outside and how much I enjoy outdoor activities, but this year I really embraced how I FEEL when I am outside, especially in the woods on a trail or on the water. As a result, I have set two BIG-ish goals for 2019.
I’m going to go ahead and put this out here to you all so you can help hold me accountable. In July of 2019 my dad and I are going to take a 3 day canoe trip down Whitewater River here in Indiana. My other goal is to walk a short portion of the Appalachian Trail in October. I had friends who did both of these things this past year and they inspired me to remember my capacity to do it too! I have also hired a health coach who is helping me work toward these goals. (more on that later)
I have also taken quite an interest in understanding the Enneagram. I’ve taken the the quick test several times (google it) and then paid for the long version last year. Through those results and the study I have done, I have landed very comfortably on the fact that I am an Enneagram 7. Joy is my thing! I love adventure and trying new things and I don’t like to sit in pain. I have learned that I have to practice lots of discipline and feel my feelings rather than moving on to the next new thing to avoid them. Not only has the Enneagram helped me understand myself, it has helped me understand my family, friends, and the people I work with. I strive to see the best in myself and others, and the Enneagram gives me a practical tool that helps me in doing that.
Getting a better idea of what makes me tick and accepting that helped me take advantage the opportunity to travel more in 2018! I love to travel and adventure makes me come alive! This year I got to go several places for the first time and knock a few things off my bucket list.
When I am in new situations or when I don’t feel seen or loved well I begin to feel anxious about who I am. I feel like my personality is too big for some people. Maybe I’m too loud, too silly, too distracted, too spontaneous, the list could go on and on. As I settle into more of my truth in who I am, I can actually show up and embrace and share the gifts God has given me. It also helps me know how to ask for what I need and to get that in a healthier way. That means that I have to put some parameters in place so I can live in a healthy balance and that’s exactly what I’m learning to do! Rather than trying to dampen my “light” and “tone it down” I am learning to just be me and spend the most of my time and energy with people who love me for that–just as I am! I don’t have to get it “right” and I don’t have to do what I think you want me to do so you will love me.
As there is with every Enneagram number, there is a dark side to being a 7. Without the right boundaries in place, I can easily move toward excess. Gluttony is the “deadly sin” of the 7. When I move toward stress I find myself making purchases, eating food, wasting time, and over doing it in many areas of my life. As you could see from the pictures above, I began traveling longer distances and for longer periods of time for my work in 2018. I love the travel, but it can be very stressful and there is quite a learning curve for all the details and realities of those who travel for a living. As a result, I developed some bad habits that involved excess in these areas and I got to a very unhealthy place physically and emotionally. Now I have some work to do to get back to a better balance.
At the end of 2018 my husband and I paid off some debt and are almost debt free other than large items such as our home and cars. Anyone who has left a full-time career to follow your dreams and become self-employed knows what a monumental task that is! Woo Hoo!!! Dave Ramsey would be proud! We are working very intentionally to reel things in with spending. One of our biggest wins in 2018 was that after many years of fighting about money and budgeting, my husband reluctantly took over managing the money and has done a lot to learn how to become more and more efficient and affective in the area of finances.
He also encouraged me to hire a health coach. So I began working with a coach who monitors my workouts and eating habits. I really need the accountability to get me on a better path. He is going to help me create healthier routines when I’m home and when I’m traveling and learn how to adapt my lifestyle to the demands of my schedule. It also helps that my husband is also working on getting healthier so we can do it together! We have found that we are both more successful when we unify in our efforts!
The reason I tell you all of this is because this year wasn’t easy. I don’t think anyone can look back at a year and say, “wow that was a piece of cake!” Many times, it is the events that happen over the course of the year that helps define who we are and helps us discover what we are made of. We choose how we look back and if we want to look back with regret and sadness or if we want to look back and learn so we can move forward. I think that is the hope of the new year. It’s not like January 1, 2019 is any different than December 31, 2018. The days still have 24 hours, but the difference is a renewed since of hope. There is a full year laying before us and we get to choose how we step into it. It’s like having a storybook waiting to be written!
This year as I looked ahead to 2019, I didn’t choose just a word for the year. I actually chose a phrase. The phrase I chose is a result of the way things unfolded in 2018 and what I feel God is calling me to do and who He is calling me to be in the year ahead. My phrase for 2019 is “bring the Light.”
Light has always held a lot of significance. I love anything that represents light, sparkle, joy, sharing, and shining to make the world a better place! When I worry about who others want me to be, what they might want me to do–when I live in a stressed state of overspending and over eating my light grows dim. I focus on the things of this world and lose sight of the One who gave me the Light and continues to shine within me. In essence, my light hides under a bushel of fear.
This year, my goal is to remember that old Sunday School song, “This Little Light of Mine.” I’m going to surround myself with people and practices that kindle that light and help it to shine so I can “bring the light” whether it is to my family, friends, the people at work, or you folks in this community. Rather than hiding the light, I want it to shine into the lives of others so they can discover their own potential to shine. “One enkindled spirit sets hundreds on fire!” ~William H. Danforth
I look forward to 2019 and a renewed sense of unity, focus and energy that I know I know are going to make it the best year yet!
Now I have the privilege of introducing you to one of “my people”. She is one of those people who really gets me and when we’re together I light up! You might say she is a kindred spirit. I am so honored to introduce you to Sabrina Brosseit. We met years ago when she attended a training I was doing at her Head Start agency. She has transitioned through a couple of positions since then, but always in the field of early childhood. She is a real gem and I will let her introduce herself to you when she shares her first blog post in a few weeks. For now I thought I’d share her beautiful smile and a glimpse of our planning session last week. We have some big things planned for 2019 and we can’t wait to share this year with you!
We have developed a worksheet to help you go through the process setting your intention for 2019. Follow this link and print out the worksheet and follow the directions on the page to help you choose a word to guide you through 2019. Follow these steps to help you settle on which word might be just for you!
- Set aside a few minutes without distraction so you can have some quiet space.
- Look at the list of words or add your own by just “feeling” which ones pop out to you on the page or pop into your head.
- We included 25 words thinking that you could choose 5 words a day.
- Write the 5 words that pop out to you on the lines provided that day and then just let it be.
- The next day start the process again. This time go through the list from the day before and mark off any words that don’t seem to mean as much and any words that are left you move down to the next day. If you have empty spaces you can add words from the word bank or you can leave them blank.
- Keep rolling the words down each day and filling in with new words until you’ve been through the whole list. Feel free to add your own words too.
- By the time you get to day five you should have the list pretty well narrowed down.
- If you still don’t know exactly what word to choose and need some help deciding, you might like to look the word up in a dictionary to learn a bit more about the word and see if it still sticks like you want it to.
- Don’t rush the process. Take some time and listen and just allow the right word to bubble up to the top.
- Once you determine your word, do something creative to help you represent your word for the year.
- I like share my word with other people so that we can check in with each other throughout the year and encourage each other to stay focused on how that word is playing out in our lives.
We can’t wait to hear what words you chose this year! Sabrina will be sharing about her word later this month when she shares more about what she’s up to this year. Give our resource a try. Let us know what word you choose and stay tuned for more exciting offerings from Ignite Learning Together in 2019.