We have started the month of February and are well into the new year! By now you have had time to make a list of New Year’s resolutions and get started on them, or you’ve already thrown in the towel and given up on them! Hopefully your case is the former, but if you have already fallen off the wagon I’m here to provide encouragement to get back on! We have plenty of months left in this year so let’s make it the best year yet!
In my last blog I talked about making an image board and selecting theme words for the year. I thought I would share with you my theme words for this year in hopes that you would be inspired to choose some for yourself! This year I picked three simple but powerful words: NEW. LIVE. SHINE.
NEW: This past year I turned 30 and when I looked back at my 20’s and asked myself what I had done, sadly I couldn’t come up with much. I had realized I had wasted away a lot of precious years. So this year it’s my goal to try new things!
LIVE: I want to just live life. It’s really that simple. I want to savor the moments and enjoy the great things God has blessed me with. I want to focus on living life not wasting life.
SHINE: I want to strive to live my life in such a way that it encourages and inspires others. I want my attitude to shine in a positive light. I want to appear different in such a way that people are able to see God working in my life. I know that many days I don’t feel like being nice, or feel like smiling or feel like putting up with the unpleasant client at work, but it is my hope and prayer that regardless of what’s going on that I will be able to shine brightly for someone having a difficult day as well.
I want this year to be about change for me! In the past there have been many times I strayed away from change. It made me nervous and uncomfortable and fearful of what was to come. So, I continued on with my life in the same fashion, doing the same things, and associating myself with the same things and the same people. Throughout this past year, the idea of change started to appeal to me in a new way. It was like I finally was at a point that I was ready to invite it in. Don’t get me wrong change pushes me outside my comfort zone in ways that I don’t always like, but I think that’s what grows us and makes us better. At this point I’m not sure what changes are in store for me, but I want to strive to do different things that perhaps I haven’t done before, or revisit old things in a new way.
My challenge to myself and you all reading along with me is this; for every 30 days, do at least 1 new thing. Be creative. It doesn’t always have to be something extravagant or even something that’s costly. Simply just try something new or different. I’m going to be posting my “new” experiences each month to help motivate you as well!
It’s my hope that through trying “new” things that I simply “live” out this life to its fullest and hopefully along the way “shine” a little brighter while doing it.
Here’s a quote to keep you motivated. 🙂
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.”
-Zig Ziglar
Best of luck! Chat with you soon!
Lots of love,
A. Flavio
FlavioApril 
Great post, April! Thanks for sharing. I hope your 2014 is full of new people, new things, new choices, and new experiences!
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April, I love that you are trying new things. I love that you’re open to change and the new things that God has for you. I think sometimes we forget that the little things can be the BIG things.
I want you to know that you have been such a LIGHT for me in our friendship, but more so lately and I think that’s mostly due to your new perspective on life. I love you dear friend and love the woman that you have comecome.