I turned 31 on June 1st and I have to say that this was a very strange, scary, raw, confusing…yet, beautiful year.
On June 1st, 2019 Ben and I woke up in Reykjavik, Iceland and road tripped to the tiny town of Vik. We parked at our little hillside cabin, swapped out our muddy boots and jackets for jeans and nice tops and went to dinner at a local restaurant. We reflected on the trip we had, the beautiful scenery we saw and said cheers to another year around the sun together.
Last Monday, June 1st, 2020 I woke up at home, did my hair and makeup and sat down at my makeshift office desk at the kitchen counter. I popped open my laptop and started on an audit for work. Just as I dug in, an alert popped up on my phone that I quickly cleared. It reminded me of a flight we were going to take that day from Porto, Portugal to Barcelona, Spain. A pit in my stomach came and went as I momentarily grieved the loss of that trip, the experience we planned and the birthday I was “supposed” to have.
Just as I put my phone back down, Ben swung through the front door with a coffee and breakfast from our favorite neighborhood spot. He dropped it off at my desk, gave me a kiss, smiled and said happy birthday. My heart melted. As I sipped on my coffee, I realized that regardless of where I was on this birthday, I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Now 2020 has been a crazy/scary/eye opening year. Through all of the ups and downs, I’ve learned a lot about myself and the person I want to be. While I’m still trying to formulate my thoughts and figure out how to best move forward, I wanted to share 5 big takeaways and things I want to improve on as I move into 31.
5 Changes I Want To Make
- Experiences > Things. All of those “things” I thought I needed—I don’t. My overall happiness right now (high) in relation to my current lack of things (new clothes, eye brow shape, nail color) speak volumes. Moving forward I want to spend less money on material items and invest more in my future and on experiences instead!
- Revamp The Blog/Instagram: I was SO nervous to do this the first time around that I found myself trying to fit in rather then creating interesting, unique and helpful content for you. I want to do better and give Instagram and the blog my all. First step: Getting this new website up and running! Check. 🙂
- Use My Voice + Be More Educated On Social Issues: I’ve always been afraid to speak my mind on social issues, but I’ve learned that showing up imperfectly is better than not showing up at all. Moving forward, I want to take the time be more educated and not shy away from difficult or uncomfortable conversations.
- Listen with Intent. This is something I really want to work on this year. It’s so easy to turn a conversation to your own experiences or opinions when you’re trying to relate. I want to work on listening with intent and keeping my focus on the person who needs it.
- Be More Mindful of What I Put in My Body: Ben went onto an anti-inflammatory/Vegan diet back in February and I started in March when lock down went into effect. My intent wasn’t to do it full time, just when we were cooking together, but I found that I loved it and so I started to cut out animal products as well. It’s been such a game changer and something I want to incorporate into my life moving forward. More to come on this for sure!
And those are my 5 goals for 31. I have a ton of smaller ones/things I hope to accomplish this year, but those are still jumbled up in the Notes section of my iPhone *face palm.* Hopefully I’ll get those organized and into a post soon!
Do you make new goals each year? If so, what have been some of your favorite/most meaningful ones?
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