A New Year - 2016 - What does it mean to you?

As I have scrolled through Facebook and blogs over the past few days I am seeing so many posts related to the new year. I have never been great at resolutions ... I tend to set myself up to fail with all the ideas of being 'better' and then I end up feeling worse in the end. 

So what is the New Year to you? For me it begins a new year (per say) BUT not really, as my new year starts on my birthday ... but how I am going to look at it (as I think others do) is a kind of reset button, a time when we can pause and say 'out with the old, in with the new'! In my opinion, I need more of these throughout the year! 

So I have been trying to think about all the things I wanted to better or change and there are so many and with each new post I read I think of more ... then I saw a comment about "One Little Word" and I thought this is it ... this is how I can grasp all the things that I want to do in the new year and I can customize it for me. Here is the idea:

"A single word can be a powerful thing. Each year since 2006, Ali has followed a tradition of choosing one word for herself each January - a word to focus on, to live with, to investigate, to write about, to craft with, and to reflect upon as she goes about her daily life. 

You're invited to join Ali in choosing your own One Little Word®."

So I have chosen my word and I encourage you (if it feels right) to chose a word. I am super excited about this, because I feel like I can handle this without failing. And even if I do fail from time to time, I can continue on and keep trying. The one things that I kept thinking about was giving to others, something that I feel like I have been on a journey to do for a few years now. But this does not always look like I would like it to, so I will continue to work on this BUT as a friend pointed out to me the word give can encompass so much more. And what I realized is that all of these things are truly worth working on ...  so here is a short list of how 'give' might look in my life this year!

Give to others
Give of your time
Give of your love
Give thanks
Give praise
Give to self
Give to your higher power
Give away (release) all the clutter of mind , heart & all the extra stuff we store in the basement, shed or garage
Give permission 

I also plan to help my family chose a word, something we can all work on together or maybe they will chose to share my word, we will see! 

I would love to hear about your hopes and dreams for 2016 ... I love to hear everyone's story! So feel free to share, encourage and give a little of yourself!

Peace, love and kindness,
Amy