ONE WORD

The last few years I have thought of one word to be my theme for the year.  Last year I challenged my school staff to find a hashtag that people would know them by.  Mine was #lovedwell.  Everything I did that year, I wanted the end game to be that I loved well through good and bad times.  I think I did just that.  Relationships are not hard for me.  It's just who I am.  I wanted to be intentional with my actions and taking time to spend with my tribe.  Let's face it, the first year as a principal and opening a new school at that --- I was exhausted most days and weekends.  The balance was (and is) still hard to find. I'm working on it. :)

Fast forward to 2019 --- what's my word this year?   I really thought long and hard about what I truly needed to be intentional about this year and one word came to my mind again and again----

DISCIPLINE

What areas of my life did I need discipline?  ALL OF THEM!!! When I started thinking about it I listed I needed discipline in my spending, reading my Bible, working out, eating right, keeping my house tidy, balancing work and life. ALL THE THINGS.  I seriously wondered how I even made it day to day.   It's a lot to try to revamp all at once, so I started with spending.  I bought a planner I loved from Living Well and Spending Less.  I love Ruth Soukup.  I started reading her blog a few years ago.  She is very inspirational, and I love her Podcast "Do It Scared" - It goes along with my being brave theme :)  Here's her website if you want to check it out:  https://www.livingwellspendingless.com/


So the planner has everything - goal setting, calendar (weekly and monthly) meal planning and, yes, the dreaded budgeting page.  For this month (so far) I wrote down every penny I spent and what category it went to.  I was doing great, but last week I was not intentional and I could tell when I sat down tonight to adult and pay bills.  I caught up on my week of receipts and saw the money I had basically thrown around.  The bottom line is discipline is all about choices.  Why does it have to be so hard? (Insert whine here)

I am continuing being intentional with my spending this week.  I am working on being mindful what I am eating because I have to weigh in every week for our school weight loss challenge and at Weight Watchers.  This week I am working on getting back to running.  Listen, this is huge.  I like to run.  However, I hate the cold and getting out of my warm bed with my weighted blanket at 4:30 a.m. when it's 30 or less degrees outside.  That's a lot folks!  I know many of you will ask why I don't just go in the evenings?  There's not enough consistency with my evenings to have a solid schedule, so mornings it is.   It's a choice.   It's a change I have to make daily.  I promise I am going to be brave through the cold mornings of Texas winter. 

Have a great week, my friends.  Be intentional, make good choices, and BE BRAVE!