January is a wonderful time to set intentions for the year to come. I am just coming off a year of being BRAVE, and it’s feeling like I need to take a break and rest. So this year’s theme is FLOW.

Here’s what that means to me – let’s use a running metaphor.

When running on a hilly route, your pace naturally slows down and speeds up as you go up and down the hills. If you fight to keep the exact same speed regardless of the terrain, you will exhaust yourself on the uphills and waste potential speed on the downhills. It’s much more comfortable to keep a consistent effort – which means you will run slower on the uphills, but run faster on the downhills.

When I say I want to go with the flow, it means I want to allow my pace to change depending on how hilly my route is. Giving myself permission to rest when things are challenging, and surge forward when things are easy.

For many years, I have tried to fit myself into the box that everyone expected of me. I convinced myself I didn’t need to rest when I was really exhausted. I told myself “slow down, pace yourself” when I wanted to dive headfirst into something.

This year, I’m giving myself permission to dive into things and go with the flow, rather than trying to push or stop myself to keep my pace consistent. And maybe that means one week I will be really into running, and the next week I’ll spend all my spare time sewing, and the week after that I might just sit around and watch Netflix. And it’s all okay.

Here’s to a more relaxing 2023!