I can’t believe it’s already time to write my year-end blog post. Last year around this time, I was in such a bad place that I didn’t even muster the ability to write a year-end blog post. I feel extremely grateful to be in a completely different headspace now, and it inspires a lot of thought for me about what this last year has brought along with it. As a Mom with young kids, it really feels as though most of the time we are in pure survival mode– just figuring out how to balance everything on our plates and doing the best we can to “thrive” in all the different areas of life. Of course, thriving in ALL the different areas of life is impossible, which is a lesson I’m grateful to have learned over the years. I do find myself reflecting back on the Glimmers, both big and small, that we’ve experienced this year. Those moments of peace, belonging, gratitude, joy, and inspiration that create the stepping stones of a life well lived. Well, at least in my book!

I started off the year by setting a one-word intention. I always do this, because I find that it’s easier to stick to than a whole list of “Resolutions”. It also can serve as a beautiful way to manifest what you want. Any big life choices that don’t point to that one-word resolution? Well, maybe it’s best to reconsider. My word for this year was PEACE. I had been struggling in lots of ways towards the latter half of 2022, and I needed and wanted the noise and exhaustion to be replaced by a more peaceful nervous system– and a calmer vibe in general. My biggest step towards this intention was the decision to sell our house at the very beginning of 2023. I wrote a whole blog post about it, but it was NOT an easy decision and held so much emotion for me. I also knew it was absolutely the right thing to do if I really was interested in chasing the dream of a more peaceful life.

That decision seemed to set in motion a whole flow of intentionality and positivity. We got engaged. We found the house of our dreams. We settled into a deeper love as a family. We let go of so many things over the summer that had been bringing negative energy and we cleared the way for magic. In general, I really have felt this enormous sense of peace settle over our family. I’ve felt things fall into place that were meant to be. I’ve stopped furiously treading water and fighting the tides. I’ve started paying closer attention to the chapters and experiences that it seems the Universe is really wanting me to take. Those things are ALWAYS trying to come into your life if they’re meant for you– and this past year has shown me that! 2024 is gearing up to be the most exciting year of my entire life.

While “Peace” was most definitely the quality I most needed for myself in 2023, I feel as though I’m stepping into a different energy for 2024. I feel so solid in my relationships, in my sense of self, and in my purpose. I know what I want now that the noise is gone. I also feel completely deserving, maybe for the first time, of what I’m manifesting for myself. Anybody who deals with anxiety, abandonment issues, or depression, understands the feeling of needing to fight for the feeling of deserving happiness. It takes a lot of inner work, and it’s not an easy road at times. That “shadow work” of looking deeply at oneself is soooo much harder before it gets to the healing parts. To anybody out there doing that type of deep, painful work on themselves, I see you. Stay in it. It gets better!

As I look to this next year, I feel so insanely grateful. Grateful for my family and friends. Grateful for my second chance at love and marriage. Grateful for my health. Grateful for my job and for all of you. And grateful to myself for sticking with myself, and being true to myself. Those of you who get that last thing, will really get it. Life is wild sometimes. There are entire chapters we may feel like we will never emerge from. But then, just like that, the page turns! Something new CAN come from it all.

Stepping into 2024 for me is about a very different one-word intention: CONNECTION. I chose this word because I want to invest more of myself in all of my most meaningful relationships in the year ahead. I want to be more present, I want to be more loving, I want to be more myself than ever before. I want to really focus in on connecting as much to the deeper parts of myself as I do with the world around me. I want to connect the dots on all the things I love in my life and bring those things full circle in a way that brings me joy. I want to connect in new and exciting ways with all of you, and I want to bring my brand and my platform to a greater audience. Now that I’ve re-discovered my “center” in this past year of bringing more peace to my life, I want to extend more of myself to the world around me in order to connect in more meaningful ways. I have some ideas about how to do this, and changes I need to make to achieve my goal…but I also know from the experience of this past year that life will teach ME so much about what’s in store as well.

I’d love to know what your word of intention is for 2024! Please share in the comments below!

Photographs by Julia Dags | Copyright © 2023 Happily Eva After, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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