2023 was a heckuva journey. There’s no better word than journey for what the year entailed. Some journeys are coming to an end; some have just started. But they’ve all come together into one comprehensive journey of renewal. The word I chose for 2023 truly shaped the entire year. Renewal results in something new, but it also requires that old things die. Trees renew their leaves in the spring after a winter of death cold and hibernation. Renewal brings rebirth and new life, but it’s not always an easy journey.

I can honestly say that I have experienced renewal as a result of this year.  Looking back on my last journal entry 2022, there were so many things that were in shambles. There were so many things I needed to change. So many things that I needed to be changed. and most of those things? Most of them have been changed or are currently in the process of changing. Was it a smooth succession of changes? Absolutely not. All one has to do is look back on the first three months of the year to see just how disastrous some things became before they got better. and yet, those missed steps? I believe they were necessary.

So here we are, about to start another new year. And I have another new focus. Another new word. My word for 2024?  Aligned.

To be aligned means to be honest and true. Honest and true to the innermost core of my being.

I need to align myself more closely with God. I need to align my attitudes and thoughts more closely with his will. And I also need to align my actions, what I accept, what I tolerate, and what I turn down to more closely match who I truly am and what I truly want. The interesting part about that, of course, is sometimes I don’t really know who I really am or what I truly want. but just like the first three months of last year were spent figuring out exactly what renewal should start looking like, I’m guessing that the first few months of this year are going to be spent figuring out exactly what and who I am really looks like.

One thing I do believe and have come to realize more and more is that you are what you repeatedly do. If I don’t like the person that I am, or if I am uncertain in the person that I am, I really need to take a look at what I repeatedly do, my habits.

And what habits does the woman I want to be repeatedly do?

• Her first thought in the morning is of God and spending time with him.
• She works her body, stretching her limits physically.
• She knows herself through reflection and meditation.
• She feeds her body appropriately.
• She drinks enough water to keep herself healthy and functioning at her highest level.
• She is open with those she claims are closest to her, even risking pain and betrayal in doing so.
• She writes.  Anything and everything.  Her story is her journey and the legacy she leaves to help others.
• She does one thing every single day to show care to herself.