Damn kids! I was already out of the car and felt she was taking too long. “Leyara, I told you to hurry up!”

My daughter screaming and having a fit responded, “Why can’t I just do it in my own time? Why are we always in a hurry?!” She is about to be six and asks the life-changing questions. Me: speechless.

Why can’t she do it in her own time? Why am I always in a hurry? I can’t preach BE IN THE MOMENT and follow it with “hurry up.”

Apparently, my youngest is going to help me prioritize my annual intentions. This year, I want to experience each moment more and stop continually looking for “improvements.” In other words, I am looking to cleanse—physically, emotionally and materially. This year, I want to live every day consciously, recognizing that the new fancy “thing” won’t necessarily help my business or that acquiring more “stuff” isn’t going to motivate me to feel better about myself.

This requires me to rewrite that story I’ve told myself that having a hectic schedule means being productive. I acknowledge that my busy-ness DOES NOT VALIDATE ME. Stress is not my purpose for living. So I now choose to do my best to be in the moment by clearing out the unnecessary objects that are cluttering my ability to live in the now and holding me back from growing and having fun. This won’t always be easy, but I know that happiness doesn’t exist in the future; it only exists in the now.

So, what is your annual intention? What do you want to Experience this year? What stories do you want to stop having to tell yourself in order to feel validated? What needs to be acknowledged that you have been ignoring? I know that it can be uncomfortable thinking about these questions. But rather than let the fear hold you hostage any longer, push through it. Stop avoiding the stuff that needs your attention. Like my recent experience with my daughter, it will only continue to show up until you decide to acknowledge and change it.

Let’s do THAT this year! ACKNOWLEDGE OUR “STUFF AND TAKE SMALL STEPS TO CHANGE THEM. I challenge you to just JUMP all in! Be BOLD! Make some decisions that excite and scare you!! And with that thought, I wish you all courage, grace and fun that you deserve in this New Year.