The Year of Joy – 2017 New Years Resolution

I have noticed a new way to make a new year’s resolution. A way that helps you actually keep your resolution!  What you do is pick a work to focus on for the year and work around that word. Yes. Just one word!  I have seen people do a year of yes, a year of grace, a year of rest, a year of creating and so on.  I am so excited to give this a try!

I thought awhile about what word I wanted to chose, but one really stood out in my head. JOY!  Yup! I am choosing to have a year of joy!  

I got my inspiration from one of my favorite bloggers, Jami Balmet from this blog post if you want to check it out.  

Why did I choose this word?

I’ve realized that I need to find more joy in my everyday life.  Even in the mundane, boring days.  Some days I wake up and I really just don’t want to get out of bed because I know it is a day full of cleaning and work.

I am  also wanting to kick depression and anxiety in the butt for good!

This last year has been a roller coaster. Some really great things have happened while some really hard things have happened.  I look back and think, “wow… I could have made that situation a lot easier.  I could have had a lot more joy.”

I want to slow down and enjoy the little things.  Some days I really just want to skip over the day and get over it.  Like today for example….

My husband and I are moving in two days and I still have tons to pack.  I told my husband (and I’ve thought it many times today while I was packing) that I just want to skip over the next few days and get it done!  But what would I miss if I skipped over these next few days?  The joy of starting a new adventure, the joy of walking into our new apartment, and the joy of hanging out with friends and family on moving day.  What about the little things?  I would miss two nights of reading the Bible and praying with my husband before bed.  I would miss long talks in the car and eating dinner together.  So much joy would be missed!

How am I going to do this?

1.) Focus on Christ

The number one thing that is going to help me find more joy is growing in the Lord. This is what I am focusing on most!  It’s simple really.  Without God, where would I find my joy?

One reason I don’t have joy sometimes is because I loose track of what is really important.  I get distracted with life and I forget what God has done for me.  He created me, He saved me, and He loves me!  That should be enough to make me want to get out of bed everyday, jumping with joy!

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. – 1 Peter 1:8-9

What are the practical steps I am taking to reach this goal?

Reading the Bible daily (and understanding it) – Whhhaaatt?!  Read the Bible to grow spiritually? Who knew?  But really…. We’ve all been there where we read the Bible to say we did it and then we think about what we read and have no idea what any of it meant because we just flew through. Or at least I have.

On way I want to get better at this is by reading slower and asking questions!  My husband is really wise when it comes to the Bible so I always come to him when I have a question regarding a Bible passage I don’t understand.  We have also dedicated ourselves to reading the whole Bible in a year!  Plus I also got a journaling Bible for Christmas which I’m super excited about!  I know this will help me memorize verses and make the Bible stick in my brain.

A book I want to read this year to help my Bible reading is called Women of the Word.  It’s for sure on my reading list!

I also need to work on my prayer life… like… really bad.  I admit it! I am going to start having quiet time in the morning to read my Bible and really focus on praying. I am also going to keep a prayer journal because I am one of those people who go to pray and then forget what to pray about.  Tell me I’m not the only one!

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

2.) Keeping it clean

What is the number one thing that keeps me from getting out of bed in the morning and doesn’t bring me joy?  A messy house.  Period.

A messy house also lowers my productivity which makes me lazy and depressed. A messy, unorderly house really messes with my head!  Who want’s to wake up with a sink full of dirty dishes and clothes all over the floor?  

What are the practical steps I am taking to reach this goal?

Developing a daily routine!  I hear over and over again that we all need a daily morning and nightly routine and I have tried so many times, but this year, I am putting it in action! So for example, in the morning I am going to do these four things before I do anything else:

1. Read my Bible
2. Yoga
3. Put away clean dishes
4. Check meal plan

And then at night I will do these things before going to bed:

1. 15 minute pick up
2. Do dishes
3. Take food out of freezer
4. Pray

Decluttering is also really important when it comes to keeping a clean house.  I am actually working on this now!  I’m adding Make Room for What You Love to my reading list this year as well!

3.) Health

Some of you know that I have had Lyme disease for many years.  While I am much better than I have been in past years, I still struggle with many symptoms.  Feeling sick and tired does not really bring me joy. 

Along with this, my husband and I have been in a rut of not really caring about what we eat.  We did really good at one point, eating all organic, no processed junk, and veggies every day.  But because of moving and the holidays things have gotten a little cray cray!

I also exercise like…. Never.

What are the practical steps I am taking to reach this goal?

As you can tell from this website, I’m a huge freak about holistic health.  I LOVE herbs, ridding your home of toxins, healing diseases, and all that fun stuff.  This year I am going to continue to learn more about holistic health, but learn more faithfully.  So instead of reading an article here and there I am going to set dedicated times to study so that I can help my husband and I with our Lyme and overall health.  I am also currently going through a course by Rosemary Gladstar and I am going to be putting time for this into my schedule instead of saying “I’ll work on it someday.”  

As for what we eat, I know what we should be eating, I just need to put it on our plates!  I love meal planning and I have always done it, but I am considering purchasing emeals to help save me time and they have really healthy meals you can make.  Plus Dave Ramsey enforces it and we all know how much I like him!

4.) Enjoy!

I want to really REALLY enjoy life this year.  I want to do things I enjoy to make life funner!  I know I can’t do fun things all of the time (bummer), but I can do fun things while I am doing mundane tasks to make them more enjoyable!

When I would clean, I used to turn on my favorite TV show and watch it while I cleaned the kitchen or folded laundry.  While that was okay, I want to focus more on filling my brain with encouragement.  So instead of watching TV while I clean, I’ve decided to listen to Christian podcasts.  I really enjoy this podcast by Jami Balmet and there are more I want to try out!

Along with making the mundane days more enjoyable, I want to take time for myself sometimes. This mean carving time out at the end of the day to read a book, take a bath, or maybe even watch my favorite TV show.  This does not mean I’m going to be spending 2 hours every day being lazy (I am guilty of doing this…), but that I will make time to refresh myself so that I can be refreshed for the next day and look forward to it.

Overall I need to be content with life. Things are not always going to be butterflies and rainbows. God sends hardships our way and sometimes it seems like things will never get better, but they will!  I believe God sends us trials and boring parts of life so that we can trust Him and find joy in Him.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. – James 1:2-3

Really consider what you want to change this year. What word do you want to focus on? Maybe you need to focus on joy like me, or maybe you need to focus on creativity, patience, or faith.  Let me know in the comments what word you chose!