A. W. Slack

Do you remember my first Sage Haven post? It was about how I choose a word to focus my year on rather than setting resolutions. (You can read it HERE.) This tradition began in 2017 when I focused on “release” and has moved through the years to help create intention in my life and visualize how I want the year to transpire. In the past, I’ve chosen to live with gratitude (2018), intention (2019), contentment (2020 and 2021), and cultivation (2022).

I believe I truly lived for my word of 2022: cultivate. I developed my hobbies of growing houseplants and bullet journaling. I focused on better balancing work and home life. I made the decision to join a CrossFit box and learned more about my body by going to a specialist to identify the causes of infertility and multiple pregnancy losses. And I actively worked to cultivate relationships in my life that bring me joy.

As another year looms, I have again considered how I want to focus my 2023. This year was honestly the easiest to decide. As I catch myself having imaginary conversations of no real benefit, I realized exactly what word will direct the new year:

Present

This last year has been one of learning. Learning how to cope with past regrets, how to navigate life following old decisions, and how to prepare for the unknown of the future. So as I learned and allowed wounds of the past to heal and scars to fade, I prayed for resolve on what 2023 would bring.

The answer is a lot. More than I’ve ever experienced, actually. Welcoming my first child and becoming a mother is going to bring more challenges and rewards into my life than I can even fathom. So how can I allow each success and failure to happen while maintaining my individualism and sanity? The answer was simple: by being present.

I cannot go into this next phase of life clinging to each mistake I make. (I feel as if I am entering motherhood from a good headspace — I know I’m going to fail. Over and over. And I know it is how I handle those failures that will most impact my child’s emotional intelligence at handling their own mishaps.)

I also cannot move through each day pondering the “what if’s” or “what could be’s.” I want to walk beside my child and enjoy the here-and-now. Life if too short to be trying to push the days even faster along…

Aside from the impending start of parenthood, I also want to find presence in myself. I want to be joyful of where I am in 2023 — whether that means accepting my new body after pregnancy and giving birth, finding happiness in maintaining a full-time career while knowingly missing milestones, or putting other dreams on hold as new priorities take front and center. Committing to being present in every facet is my number one goal for this next year.

Have you considered you word for 2023? Feel free to share it in the comments below — I would love to hear from you and be a cheerleader for your own success at focusing the new year as you desire!