I like to choose one word to guide me through the 📆new year. Typically, I look for words that will center me. 🥰Uplifting words for my soul. 🥰Words to help me be a better human. 🥰I’m choosing a word again this year but I’m kind of going against the grain. Bear with me here.
We’re wrapping up another holiday 🥳season, and it was beautiful. We saw family and friends in person and via Zoom. 🎁Gifts were plentiful. The food was delicious. There was a whole lot of ❤️love and 😂laughter, for sure. Do you know what else the holiday season brought? Expectations. 😬UGH! You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you?
I’m not saying that the expectations wrapped around a holiday 🥳season are all bad. I honestly look forward to most of them.😍 It’s just that they’re heavy.😔 Even though I want to fulfill them, there are only 24-hours in a day. There’s only one of me. This is where the stress comes in. I start worrying about how I can do it all for the holidays in July! 🙋🏻♀️How can I please everyone? 🤷🏻♀️What happens if I forget someone or something? 😳How do I dare put myself into the equation?😬
It’s a lot.
Expectations aren’t just here for the holidays. They’re here all year long. That’s why I chose EXPECTATIONS as my word for 2022. Hear me out.
For this new year, I want to abandon all of the stresses that come from expectations.🛑 I want to free myself to look at new ideas and opportunities. 🚦Yes- I understand that expectations are a part of life. There will be times when expectations are there, and I can’t do a dang thing about it. But, I want to do a better job of filtering them. I tend to own any and all expectations, and I don’t believe that is healthy. It’s ⏰time for me to take that pressure off of myself. 👀Look at the expectations closely and decide if they really are mine to own. If the answer is yes, then I’ll jump in. 👍🏻If I decide that the best response is no, I’ll let it go and try not to feel guilty about it. 👎🏻I’m sure this will be easier said than done. I’m a people pleaser, you know. I take things on that I don’t need to take on. All I can do is try! 🌟
I also want to make sure those around me don’t feel that I’m putting expectations on them.✅ I know I don’t appreciate it when I feel that pressure, and I would never want to be the cause for someone else. We all have busy, complicated lives. We don’t know what others are dealing with from moment to moment.💯 It’s not my place to throw expectations at others. Invitations and suggestions- sure. Expectations- no way!❌
I’m thinking of this new word as a little 🎁gift to myself- if I can actually follow through. What if…expectations aren’t expected? Life is meant to be lived. 🙌And, I don’t believe that a life well-lived is just about meeting expectations. It’s about going beyond those expectations or even abandoning them sometimes. 2022 is the time for me to see what that feels like. Maybe it’s your year, too. 💖
sharing the stairs 