I never was a fan of creating new year’s resolutions because I never follow through with them. I was scrolling through my YouTube feed and came across a vlogger who did her yearly reset and added five focus words that encompassed what she wanted in the new year and wanted to be the focus of her intentions daily, weekly, monthly, etc.

I thought to myself, I can get down with that. You know me, I love words and language and all that so it took about all of three seconds to jot these five focus words down. I will highlight the five terms and describe why I chose them and what my intentions are this year with these words and what I envision for myself.

Patience.

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I am the least patient person on the planet. I can’t wait for Christmas Day, for my work shift to end, to get engaged and married, no matter the reason, I can’t seem to find the patience for the exciting things in my life. I am patient in some ways, especially for elderly folks, children, and those with disabilities and mental health issues. IN those cases where many people are not patient, I am uber patient.

So this year I really want to work on being patent and not badgering my loved ones with my impatience because I know I get on their nerves immensely. I was always told from a spiritual standpoint that everything happens in God’s timing not MY timing. So I want to keep that in mind that perfection will happen because it is the divine that is creating the life and the path that He has set out for me.

Empathy.

I think if I would have had a focus word last year, this would have been it. I work with developmentally disabled sex offenders and it is hard to be empathetic and wanting to give grace to my clients for the prior indiscretions. But I have learned a lot in this past year in regard to empathy because if you look at it like this: biblically, God sees all sin as equal; in other words he looks down from Heaven and he sees the tops of skyscrapers and they all look the same size and height from His perspective. Whereas on Earth, we see the depths and intricacies of sins of ours and others and we see the buildings as they are and judge sin based on size, height, and depth of sin. The buildings look different from the ground up but looking down it’s all equal. Sin is all bad. So when I judge my clients for their sin, I am in need to look at myself in the mirror and reflect on my own sin whether that be lying cheating smoking drinking whatever it may be. I view it like this: if my clients give me grace and compassion for my indiscretions, I should do the same and that’s how I am able to go to work everyday with a smile on my face and we all have a good time.

Passion.

I want this year to be focused on my passions. I will complete the bulk of my schooling for social work and SUDP counseling this year with only one additional quarter to go in winter of 2024. I am passionate about social work, mental health, and addiction studies. I want that to be reflected in my school work and my grades because this is my livelihood on the line here. I want to also give near equal time to my artistic pursuits such as painting, drawing, and blogging. I want to learn embroidery. I want to do thing with an energy that cannot be easily replicated.

Reason.

I think as a bipolar woman, it is easy to give in to the fleeting thoughts and emotions that are usually temporary but I give them too much thought. I really want to focus on my mental health and reigning in the impulsive behaviors and focus on rhyme and reason. This might be the most difficult task compared to maybe patience. However, it is worth fighting for because without impulsivity, I am able to not give in to my addictions, I am able to budget and be responsible with money and be good to others which leads me to my final word….

Relationships.

I started working on this near the end of the year but I am trying to make more good lady friends and build on my relationship with family, existing friends, my boyfriend, and with God. I really would like to delve into scripture this year so first step is to unpack my bible. I want to read at least 2-3 pages every day of whatever suits my fancy because it’s the motivation that’s hard to come by to start reading, once I am in the text, following along peaks my interest and I am able to bounce around according to what the Spirit wants out of that session.

I want to build better boundaries with those I surround myself with because when school is in session, that takes priority. Although it should be a piece of the puzzle, not the whole damn picture.

Lastly,

So to kinda wrap things up, I want to balance these five words in my life so I am constantly aware of the self improvement kick that I am on and making sure that these phrases and statements of meaning are not just a phrase and actually build these things into my life. Will I be successful, maybe not, but maybe I am and as long as I am working toward positive goals of mine I will be successful in my own opinion.

But what do I know, I just write things on the internet!

much love,

Dani