This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Healthy Choice for My Word of the Year. The opinions and text are all mine.
New Year is synonymous with resolutions. I used to make resolutions like giving up sugar. I hope I am not alone in breaking my resolutions early in the year.
My Word of the Year
Last year I decided to try something a little different to set my intention for the year. Instead of a resolution I select a word of the year. This word helps guide me all year much like a mission statement guides companies.
Last year my word was Simplify. I was inspired by a business owner, mother and author. Reading a recent book, I learned simple strategies toward your own goals as you simplify and make space for what matters most. Now with the Tidying Up craze I feel like I was a year ahead.
With simplifying my life, I learned how to say no and gave away more things that I thought could even fit into my house. I started to meal plan regularly and developed systems to keep my business and house running. When I started the process, I had hoped that simplifying would result in my house was always clean.
Spoiler alert it did not.
Instead of an instantly clean house I discovered something even more powerful that has led me to my word for 2019, Gratitude.
Last week I spoke in front of 200 people as I hosted my first Junior League meeting as the President (a goal I set for myself over a decade ago). As I lay awake at 3am a week before the meeting I was both nervous and excited to address everyone (anyone else do their best thinking in the middle of the night?) I started to think what should I share with a room of women I admire. And it hit me, gratitude.
During stressful times I used to try and tell myself I am too blessed to be stressed. While I love this saying, it did not always help me stay calm. Instead during these stressful times, I am going to focus on all the things I am grateful for.
“Gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful & fulfilled life,”~ Jack Canfield
Word of the Year, Gratitude
Family
I am most grateful for my family. There is no one I would rather hang out with then the three of us.
Travel
Travel is one of our favorite things to do as a family. We set a goal to take B to all 50 states before she goes to college. For the first time Kurt and I sat down and planned our trips. We spent a magical Christmas at The Greenbrier Hotel and crossed West Virginia off our list. I am going to New Orleans next week. We are still debating about a Spring Break trip to either the Bahamas or Colonial Williamsburg. This summer we are going to Alaska on a cruise. For B's birthday we are going to Orlando.
Career
This summer I will celebrate 4 years of blogging. Happy Family Blog started as a creative outlet and has turned into a career I love. I am grateful for you, my audience. Without you reading and sharing my posts this blog would not exist.
I am also grateful for partners like Healthy Choice. Healthy Choice was born when the founder searched for healthier diet alternatives. This process led to a line of delicious and healthy frozen foods that would help make it easier for people to live a healthier lifestyle.
Their goal is to give people healthy options that are easy to make and delicious. Their chefs have work tirelessly to create amazing meals including their new line of Morning and vegan and vegetarian Power Bowls. I love that they are quick to prepare, they have great flavor and they include proteins, grains and leafy greens.
I don't know about you, but I love a meal in a bowl. Since I work from home bowls make it easy to take my meal outside and enjoy by the pool for a break from the computer. This bowl is extra special because it is fully recyclable.
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. So, combining breakfast and bowl is a win-win. Healthy Choice offers four morning Power Bowls including this delicious Unwrapped Burrito Scramble.
The breakfast bowls offer you 10-15 grams of protein and 3-5 grams of fiber.
In addition to the morning bowls, Healthy Choice also introduced vegan and vegetarian Power Bowls. The stats for the veggie bowls are impressive ranging from 10-16 grams of protein and 7-16 grams of fiber in each bowl.
Each flavor features a combination of vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
I tried the vegetarian White Bean & Feta Salad. It has a combination of white kidney beans with kale, chard & spinach served on top of brown & red rice, red quinoa and black barley with a red wine vinaigrette topped with feta cheese, dried cranberries & roasted pepitas. I love the idea that you can eat healthy and still enjoy cheese.
For Healthy Choice every ingredient matters and that includes the bowl itself. Each of the serving bowls are made from a plant-based fiber that is recyclable.
Community
We live in South Florida. I live in the same neighborhood I grew up in. I am grateful that we live just a couple of miles from the beach. Being close to the ocean is such a gift not only to me, but also for B. Last year we started a tradition of moving my office to the beach, so B and I could enjoy afternoons in the water together.
I am grateful to Junior League for giving me a sense of community. The organization has introduced me to the most amazing friends and made me appreciate everything I have and my ability to help others.
My Body
I used to make exercise a task to cross off my list. This year I will approach working out from gratitude and change my perspective so that I can be grateful that I have a body that can work out.
How to Find Your Word of the Year
If you would like to find your own word of the year here is an easy process to do it.
- Sit in a quiet room, think about your goals for 2019 and do a brain dump of all the words that come to your mind. Don't hold back, write them all down.
- Once you have all the words written down circle the ones that resonate most with your goals for the year. This process may take you longer than just one day. For me this year two words resonated with me Gratitude and Grace. I decided that gratitude best fit my goals and life for this year. I have Grace in the back of my mind for my word for next year.
- Share your word with your friends and family. Sharing your word will help you stay accountable to it.
Do you have a word of the year? I would love to hear what it is. Leave me a comment below with it and why you chose it.
Leave a Reply