This Year

Each new year brings new beginnings. A chance to reevaluate your life and see what things need to change and what things you need to keep on keepin on with. It is my hope for both of you that you will take the start of a new year to really think about your life. To think about where you have been and where you are going. It's so nice to take the time and think about you. Go to a coffee shop or your favorite corner with a journal and sit down with your thoughts. Make a list of your goals for the next year and what you are happy with from the previous year.

I also want you to remember that you don't have to wait for a new year to start over. If things aren't going the way you think they should go, start over right then. Give yourself the ability to see when you need a change and the courage to actually make that change. I will always be there to support both of you no matter what. Your dad and I want the absolute best for both of you. We will be your biggest cheerleaders. And we will always be there for you to discuss changes and future plans with. We want to talk to you about every single thing in your life and give you whatever information we can to better your life. Or be there with open arms waiting to listen.

 

A girl that I went to school with (Austin Boatwright) wrote the following words on her blog. She said everything so beautifully and so perfectly. It's something that I want both of you to read and take to heart. 

Lean in 

By: Austin Boatwright

January 4, 2016

What if 2016 is greater than any Adele love song? The kind of love song you want to listen to on repeat with the high hope that enough replays will earn you front row seats to her performance.

This year: Sing all the words. Start the kitchen dance party. Whatever you are hoping for in someone else-- get out there and figure out how to do it yourself. Define your own brave. Write out your plans. Set goals. Or write nothing at all. Just don’t hold back. 

This year: Maybe you should download the dating app. Don’t take it too seriously but make yourself available to laugh and meet someone new. You might go on an awful one. You might meet someone who brings you silly balloon giraffes and keeps knocking on your door. You gotta risk it for the biscuit, right? 

You can't really be sure how life is going to work. You can’t read the last page and then decide if it is worth the meat in the middle. You draw breaths in and out. You crawl away from the sheets too early in the morning. You send emails. You fall in love. You put gas in your car. You learn names. You do plenty of things you don’t want to do. You dance. You sometimes overstay your welcome and drink too much tequila. You eat tacos. Too much queso. You wonder if you can survive on chips and salsa alone for the rest of your life. You call home. You slam doors. You let people in.

Let him in-- let him fix your car and call you beautiful. Take the long way home. Say too much. Be sappy and too romantic. Resolve some things like a Hallmark movie and leave other things unresolved like every word of a Shakespearean sonnet. Forgive, forgive, forgive.

This year: Send the text. Say the prayers. Take off your shoes to actually feel the sand. Talk to the Uber driver. Eat all the tacos. Splurge on the shoes. Leave love letters on car windshields. Write the damn book. Find slivers of this earth that feel holy and safe to you. Do every little thing fear has tried to take from you.

Lean in. Declare freedom. Do it with a vengeance.

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