The Time is...NOW - Closing Out My One Little Word for 2015

Ali Edwards does a fabulous job of leading participants through their word each year by creating a scrapbook or journal around their word. If you want more information visit: www.aliedwards.com 

I have shared before how I choose One Little Word to live out each year - kind of an intention or what I want to speak over my life in the 365 calendar days of a year. For anybody that is just joining this party my previous words have been:

2010: Peace (what a doozy of a word that one was!!)
2011: Quality
2012: Strength
2013: Light
2014: Courage

And this past year for 2015 my word was NOW. My Pinterest board for Now really came in handy and I found a lot of inspiration that I was more than happy to Pin and review often! So how was my year of NOW? Did I live my word? Did I succeed in my intentions?

In all honesty, 2015 was actually a pretty difficult year in some aspects, and totally rocked in others. It felt very up and down and in all the ups and downs I tried really, really hard to appreciate each moment I was in right then. Some were way easier than others! haha

I know I had lots of good reasons behind Now and how I wanted to get several things done during 2015. I wanted to be happy with who I was right now and quit focusing on past versions of me or dreaming about future versions. On this part I really do feel like I lived my word. One of the best live life now moments was applying for an ambassador slot with Skirt Sports - and BEING ACCEPTED!! I had absolutely no problem living in that NOW and have spent this past year developing friendships with a lot of wonderful ladies that I know will continue for many years to come.

Another living life now moment was brutally fighting for the success of my marriage. I won't go into specifics, and I apologize for doing the vague thing, but let's just say that I wasn't really sure my marriage was going to make it through this year. It did. It's still hard sometimes and there's still work to be done, but I finally quit waiting for things to change and started fighting for that change. I really feel like this was accomplished through living ALL of my words over the past several years. I couldn't have fought for the NOW without first living with Courage last year, or getting Strong back in 2012, or knowing that I wanted to pursue Quality in 2011.

I also took some NOW initiative and partnered up with my running coach so I could explore where my running could be better right now. I'm still feeling like I was faster a long time ago, but I feel a heck of a lot more like a real runner these days than I ever have before. I had a lot of early mornings pushing hard and pouring sweat on my treadmill reminding myself that I needed to just be in that moment right then and that the hard part would pass soon enough.

It may seem contrary, but I had a NOW moment when I decided to put school on the back burner for a little bit. Yes, I know that being in school would improve a lot of things, but I also looked at where I was right then and there and knew that if I began my next level of study that I wouldn't be able to put the effort into it OR other areas of my life that really, really needed my full attention. Basically I knew that being in school would be great for my future self, but for my right now self, it would have been death. I don't know that I would have survived this year if I had been in school. Over dramatic? I don't think so...I had to recognize that the current me wasn't able to do school, family, and work. So after the spring semester I took a pause and will get back to it next summer.

I enjoyed all the NOW moments of my daughter being pregnant and giving birth to little Gavin in October. I enjoyed all the NOW moments spent with my other 2 grandbabies. I enjoyed lots of NOW moments spent sitting in the sun during lunch hours, or talking with my bestie about unicorn powers, or talking with other good friends. I enjoyed lots of NOW moments watching shows with my daughters and sharing those simple experiences with people I love.

And as we close out 2015, I'm happy to say goodbye to this past year. I feel hopeful for 2016 and where it might lead me, but I'm grateful for all the moments that I experienced this year. Some were oh so hard, and others were oh so amazing...but no matter what they were happening right then and there and I chose to live them!!

I have my word for 2016 all picked out...stay tuned as I'll be sharing it soon! Thanks for the memories 2015...thank you for helping me focus on the life right in front of me...thank you for bringing new people in that have brought so much enrichment to my life...but most of all, thank you for letting me live it. I'm ending 2015 a stronger person because of the experiences you've given me!!