2018 is right around the corner…but seriously where did 2017 go? Am I the only one that blacked out basically this whole year? It flew by! 

As I have been reflecting on the year and starting a new year I realized a few things:

  1. Time flies
  2. I did accomplish way more than I thought I did
  3. I accidentally put my health on the back burner sometimes
  4. I finally learned what the ‘no’ word was
  5. I really don’t want 2018 to fly by like 2017 did 
  6. I am so proud to be the founder of this blog!

I learned that self-love is many things together and it is something staring right back at you on how it is spelled SELF and LOVE. You get to choose how you treat yourself (self) and you get to chose what you love about yourself (love). It about understanding your value, your worth and respecting yourself through it all.

In 2017, I did a decent job of loving myself however I know I could have done better. But self-love is a journey for a reason….so I am learning as I go!  

Here are 8 things I learned about self-love this year: 

  1. Career: I loved myself enough to fight for the promotion I was seeking however I didn’t love myself enough to work many late night missing out on events with friends and family and my health taking a back burner.
  2. Opportunities: I loved myself enough to reach for certain opportunities but didn’t love myself enough to take full leaps into somethings I knew I should have (basically due to unknowns).
  3. Relationships: Still not sure what the heck I am doing with a relationships but I guess you can’t figure it all out and that is why I continue to pray for understanding. 
  4. Adventure: I loved myself enough to take the adventures I was dreaming of like hiking in Michigan, camping for the first time since I was little, traveling to Europe and Ireland and traveling across the USA. I truly can’t wait for 2018 which already includes a trip of surfing and even more hiking! For as long as I can remember now I have wanted to go on a hiking trip to Peekaboo Slot Canyon in Utah. You can check out Peekaboo Slot Canyon for yourself here: https://www.dreamlandtours.net/day-tours/kanab/peekaboo-slot-canyon/. Maybe 2018 will be the year that my hiking dreams come true? 
  5. Friends & Family: I loved myself enough to put them first most of the time but there were still moments where I feel I could have been a better daughter, sister and friend. However with learning to love myself, comes with learning I am not perfect and that is okay to continue to learn what is important.
  6. Physical Health: I loved myself enough in the beginning of 2017 to put this first and by end of 2017 realized I made this the last resort which resulted in unhappiness.
  7. Mental Health: I loved myself to recognize when I was having mental issues of stress but not enough to stop it before it went to far.
  8. Worth: This one was hard. There are many times where I knew my worth and fought for it but there were other times where I may have known my worth but didn’t fight for it. Worth comes in knowing what you bring to the table through professional life, relationships and more. 

Reflecting on these 8 things, self-love comes into play for all of them and self-love is a journey. So in 2018, I get to choose how I want the journey to go and how I want to grow and so do you.

So we have 365 days to create a life we have always dreamed! Lets do it!