posted by Stacey on Just.Be.Enough.

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As part of the Just.Be.Enough. team, we were each asked to choose three words to focus on for the year. Three words to help guide us in our goals. Part of being successful in any goal setting is accountability and once a month, I am going to be accountable for the progress I have made.

The three words I chose to be my focus for this year are balance, tenacity and laugh. Earlier this month, I shared some thoughts on finding balance. One area of balance that I often struggle with is spiritual balance. It is not something I talk about much, although it is incredibly important to me. I tend to focus on the family as a whole and neglect my personal spirituality.

But one of my personal goals for this year has included a focus on that spiritual side. I want to be closer to God, but I have always had a niggling worry that if I am closer to God that I will somehow lose part of myself. I like my spunky self and for some reason, I have always felt that too much focus on spirituality will equal a docile and submissive me. And docile and submissive is just not in my nature.

But I have put aside those concerns and decided that God already knows that about me and loves me anyway, so I need to do the same. And so I have started to read my scriptures.

I haven’t been as consistent as I want to be, but it has been good. I have found my days are more peaceful and my mind is more focused. I approach it as though I am reading a book and I read at random times throughout the day. I always thought I had to have a specific time set aside and that it has to be the same time every day. And I have always sucked at that. But my method of reading while I wait for kids after school, or while they eat lunch, or whenever I manage to remember, is working for me.

And guess what? I’m still me, just a more focused me. Just a me that is a little closer to God.

One of my other words, tenacity, I haven’t done as well with. I began with gusto, but got discouraged. I started writing a story that I’ve had niggling(my word of the day apparently) in the back of my mind for months, but then I got worried that it wasn’t a good enough story and I quit working on it. Stupid doubt. But I will get back to that story. The characters are calling to me. Tenacity is hard.

My last word is laugh. I have laughed some, but not nearly enough. This time of year is always a struggle for me as I suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder). I am taking my vitamins, sitting in front of my light and praying that our weather inversion will go away so I can see the sunshine again. And thankfully, I have my sister. And she’s always good for at least one laugh a day.

If you haven’t chosen three words to focus on for the year, I would challenge you to do so. Having a specific focus has really helped me direct my efforts and I hope to continue to make progress throughout the year. You can share your three words with me here, or over at Just.Be.Enough.

Tags: Just.Be.Enough., writing