To me, ringing in the New Year is more than just champagne and polaroids. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good photo op and some bubbly as much as the next girl, but this year, I want to use the New Year as an opportunity to reset, reflect, and refresh.

One of my biggest goals for the New Year is to live more intentionally. So, what does that mean exactly? Living intentionally is about asking yourself the why. Why are you doing what you’re doing? What is your purpose? It requires slowing down, thinking about the why, and being mindful of your actions.

Think about a moment in your life where you felt blissful, happy, and content. Now, what was it about that moment that made you feel that way? There is one moment in my life that I go back to all the time;

Back in 2017, I was on a work trip with some family and friends. We were in Disney World trying to make it to the park in time to watch the fireworks show. We left a little too late so we were running as fast as we could to try to catch the bus. I was exhausted, my feet were killing me, and I was stressed about the possibility of missing the bus.

I had taken a moment to stop and catch my breath, mostly due to my inability to run😂, and I glanced up at the sky. The colors were so vibrant, it looked like a watercolor landscape. It was the prettiest sunset I had ever seen. I could not believe that I had been so caught up in focusing on the future, that I hadn’t even noticed how stunning the sky looked. I started wondering how many beautiful moments in my life I had let slip by unnoticed and unappreciated.

I took the moment as an opportunity to express gratitude; I stopped, looked, and appreciated. It felt like a little reminder from the universe for me to slow down more often and savor the moment.

Luckily, before catching the bus, I snapped a photo of the sunset. There is NO FILTER on this photo, it was really THAT pretty. When you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing.

So what was it about this moment that made me so content?

1) It made me appreciate how grateful I am to live the life I live.

2) It made me appreciate how beautiful this world we were given is.

3) It reminded me to always take a minute to cherish the now.

Intentional living isn’t a perfect fix, life isn’t supposed to be perfect. However, it WILL encourage us to identify our priorities and values and live in alignment with them every day.

So here’s to a year of intentional living!