At the beginning of 2017, I took a chance and strayed from the norm.

Finding myself inspired by a blog post / inspirational speaker, I committed to affirmations or "intentions" for the new year vs. the typical "resolutions".

You can read the OG full article (here) - but these are the {2} intentions I chose.

Passion |The world has given me creativity and I will not let it go to waste. I am an artist. I stand before infinite possibilities and will accept the challenges that come with them. I will not shy away from speaking my mind. I trust in my heart that I can achieve great things with hard work.

Mindfulness|The world swells at my fingertips. I am confident that the universe is guiding me down the right path, but I know I have the ability to be more in the present. By doing so, I will form stronger bonds. I will continue to work hard, but give myself permission to say “No”. I will choose to be happy and not allow myself to become overwhelmed.

So why am I recapping on this again?

As we find ourselves quickly approaching September (and the end of the year before we know it), I can honestly say that I have not upheld my intentions as much as I had intended to (pun not originally intended but hey, whatever floats your boat).

Passion - being passionate, being creative, it comes naturally and maybe that one was a cop out.

Mindfulness - yeah, that one was a different story.

So this word, mindfulness, being in the present, living in the moment, learning how to say no when someone asks for a favor and you don't even have time to finish your own work. I hardcore struggle with this, and I know I'm not alone.

I love being a part of people's lives and showing them that they matter to me.

I love having a career and knowing at the end of a long week my exhaustion means I worked hard and did a good job.

I love talking on the phone to people even if it annoys the shit out of them - because in the end, I know they really liked to know someone cared enough to call.

But the problem with all of those things is that you get to this wall where the world is on your shoulders and all of a sudden you can't breathe.

Because while being present and forming strong bonds is an adequate representation of mindfulness,so is the power of realizing your limits.

The knowledge to accept what you cannot tolerate anymore - the power of realizing you must love yourself AND others, but you cannot put your own self at risk.

The hardest thing about being mindful is that you have to know when to be selfish. Work, Graduate School, and yes, even phone calls, sometimes need to take the back burner to a simple DIY spa night or going on a walk with my Stella.

But that will never change anything about how much I love the people in my life.

What it does change is my intention for 2018....

{Mantra: Not my problem}