Radiant in 2023!

In my little world, a new year calls for a new word.

Over the years, I’ve claimed the words Tomorrow, Build, Voice, Simplify, God’s Word, Strength, Nurture, and more. My words serve as a focus and a theme for my years and every year they are a blessing.

Taking the time to be intentional with a plan for the year is so helpful to me. It keeps me thinking about what it is I truly desire of myself and of my life. It keeps me acting instead of reacting. Regularly taking inventory of how I am doing and what I need, in regards to my annual hopes, is also key.

Some years, I feel like I choose a word to be my theme and focus, and other years, it feels like they choose me. As I was looking forward to 2023, I knew what areas of life I really wanted to prioritize, but didn’t have a word that brought them all together.

Thankfully, God knew just what I needed and gave it to me at just the perfect time.

My word for 2023 is Radiant and it comes from this Bible verse:

“Those who look to him are radiant, their faces are never covered in shame.” Psalm 34:5

The definitions for radiant (that I am using to guide me) are:

1. sending our light, glowing or shining brightly

2. clearly emanating great joy, love or health

I have three main things that I really want to work on this year and I love how “Radiant” shines a light on all of them…

First, I want to continue to look to Jesus. I’ve had some personal struggles in the last year and yet, very little stress, as I continued to look to Jesus and to trust that it is all a part of His plan - for my own good and his glory. It’s the most peace I’ve ever felt through trial. I just keep talking to Him, reading and studying His Word and relying on His promises. In 2023, I want more of this. Not the trials, maybe, but the trust and the faith and the time with Jesus. I want to look to Him and in doing so, to be radiant.

Second, I want to grow my businesses, particularly grace and light papers. I want God’s Word to be sent into more homes and for more little hands to color His promises. I also want this to be a steady stream of income for me and my family. This little baby business feels precious and also full of promise. Growing this business to send out 1,000 coloring posters each month is my “stretch dream” for the year and the part that feels the scariest to share and also to undertake.

Third, I want to work on my physical health. I need to take care of some minor medical issues that I’ve been putting off and I want to feel good in my body again. I want to do the work I need to do to feel confident, healthy, and radiant!

I am in a season of life where I feel safe, content, and ready to be and give a bit more and I am curious about what my life will look like if I really lean into this word and this work. All that feels like a pretty great starting point for 2023 and a radiant year!

Margaret, my six-and-a-half-year-old, made me this bracelet to keep my word close and visible and I LOVE it!

my 2020 theme - strong

Each year, I choose a word or short phrase to guide me. Some of my previous words have been tomorrow, build, voice, simplify, everyday and nurture.

My word for 2020 is STRONG.

Strong has many definitions, fitting many different connotations. And, fittingly, it is a word that I would like to ascribe to many areas of my life.

But I know from past experience that I do best when my energy is focused. My areas of intent for strength in 2020 are my body and my art business.

I don’t have specific end goals for my physical strength, but I started the year with the overall goal of exercising 180 times this year - roughly every other day - and eating more healthfully. I’m done having babies and I’m ready to put in the work to like my body again - - something that hasn’t been the case for almost nine years. I love that this part of my focus for my word is so straight forward. Every little bit helps and I can literally feel and see the results.

In contrast to the straight forwardness of that intention, my second area of focus feels somewhat murky. I want my art business to be stronger. But what does that mean? What does that look like? What do I do on a day to day basis to make that happen? And - how do I measure my progress?

My favorite definition of STRENGTH that fits so well in this context is: possessing skills and qualities that create a likelihood of success.

Yes.

That means I need to keep painting to hone my artistic skills. It means I need to have art available on my website for people to purchase, to continue to share my work and make other active efforts to increase my audience, to keep close tabs on my expenses and income and to continue to seek out new markets and new ways of marketing.

I can measure how much I am doing these things. I can keep continue to add them to my daily to do list. I am in control of the things I do and the steps I take.

And, to some degree, I can measure the success of these steps - audience size, audience growth, income. But these things are less directly in my own hands and the numbers don’t have a direct correlation. And that’s okay. Choosing a word is for me.

Choosing a word is not about the end result, but about the ways I can grow and change my mindset. It’s about noticing where I am and where I want to be. It’s about paying attention to the things I control and the places I put my energy. It’s about doing the next right thing for me.

And, there’s an extra bonus. Inviting this word into my life and my consciousness has already brought strength to areas outside of my focus. Spending time contemplating what it means to be strong has changed the way I think about all areas of my life. Stronger marriage. Stronger friendships. Stronger faith. Bonus. Bonus. Bonus.

After living with my word for these first few months of the year, I am stronger. My business is stronger. My body is stronger. I’m doing it. One day, one rep, one painting at a time.