2018 - The Year of STOP

Did you know I picked a word for 2017? Yeah, me neither. Y'all, I didn't even remember until I was trekking back through my posts about books from the year. So, that was clearly a colossal fail.

With this in mind, the word I needed to choose for the year ahead became quite clear to me. If you look back at what 2017 was on this blog (and honestly, it's very similar to life outside of it), it was two things - 1). Summaries of the books I read which is apparently the only part of my life I could keep together and 2). Posts about doing too much/not what matters/wanting to be better at blogging and life in general. 

So, it was a pretty easy choice. This year, my word is STOP.

Here's the thing - I say yes to so much without hesitation. Things I don't actually care about. Things I add to an already full plate. Things that take away from what I actually want to do and where my actual passions lie. And y'all, I'm tired of it. I spent too much of 2017 with an empty tack and a severe lack of spoons. So, with that, I'm ready to stop.

A few weeks back, I read The Simplified Life. It was a gamechanger. For much of the time since then, Dustin and I have been working on simplifying. It's been an overwhelming process. This weekend, I was sitting in a sea of throw pillows, bed pillows, blankets and towels, and I just had a breakdown. Where did it all come from? How are there things taking up space in this house I don't even know about? 

I'm thankful to have a husband who listens to my frustrations, then helps me figure out what we can do about it together. So, after the overwhelm passes, we get to work. We've made it through our kitchen, all our bedrooms, closets, storage, etc. etc. Amazingly, we've been doing this all together, and we haven't fought once. That says to me we're doing what we need to do to get things together.

Sidebar: The last day of 2017 started with a smoke alarm malfunctioning at 2017. So, a special thanks on that for being a jerk of a year.

Anyway, as I look to 2018, this year will look different. Will it be a magic shift? No. However, if it's anything like the path I've been on so far, I'm confident this year will be better than the last. And yes, I totally stole that from the Counting Crows.