Word of the Year: Fearless

At the beginning of each new year, I like to come up with a “word for the year.” For 2019, I chose the word FEARLESS. Choosing a word to focus on, as opposed to having a New Year’s resolution, has proved to be much more successful for me. Setting a goal, or New Year’s resolution, ends in one of two ways… success or failure. Whereas, choosing a word of the year is like having a theme to guide your everyday decisions by. My word helps shape all the decisions I make and keeps me focused on creating the changes I desire in my life.

Fearless: My Word of the Year

The Why

So why did I choose the word fearless? Fear is something that I’ve allowed to hold me back for most of my life. I’ve not done things I’ve wanted to do because of my fear of failure. I have not pursued group activities and friendships because of my fear that I might not fit in. I’ve not followed my true passions because of my fear that I’m not good enough. Enough is enough! I’m so tired of allowing fear to rule my decisions and hold me back from following my dreams.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”FEAR = False Events Appearing Real.” quote=”FEAR: an acronym for False Events Appearing Real. Fear is an illusion created by your mind to protect you from pain.”]

For the most part, it’s not physical harm that we fear; it’s emotions. And most of what we fear never actually happens. Am I right? So I’ve decided to no longer allow this fear to hold me back!

The How

Are you wondering how I’m going to live out fearless as my word of the year? Well, I’ve decided to pursue some the things that scare me the most. Let me explain.

A dream that I’ve had in my heart for many years now is to open my own home decor store. As many of you know, home decor is my passion. BUT, I’ve always questioned whether I was good enough at it. I compare myself to others and feel like I just don’t measure up. Honesty, if it weren’t for my husband constantly encouraging me and pushing me beyond my comfortable boundaries, I wouldn’t even be typing this right now because I wouldn’t have a blog. I would’ve been to scared to start for fear that no one would read it.

If you’ve been around for a bit, you’ve probably heard me mention “the store” time or two. And you are probably wondering what the heck I’m talking about because I’ve yet to write a post explaining what we are doing. It’s been a dream of mine for years, but fear kept me from pursing it. Well you guys, I finally went for it! For the last 3 months, we have been renovating a space that will become The Vintage Hive. We should be open for business within the next week.

We have poured blood, sweat and tears into this place. Literally. I still can’t believe it. It stills seems like a dream. And yes, I still have fear. Fear that no one will come. Fear that it won’t do well. And fear that I will live in debt for the rest of my life for what it took to get this started. But you know what, I did it anyway. I pushed past my fears and I followed my dream.

I was talking to a friend this week and I was telling her about the progress of the store. She made the comment, “you have become quite the business woman.” I said, absolutely not. I don’t know anything about running a business. I’m just a woman who has become fearless in the pursuit of chasing my dream.

This is a sneak peak of the store. I still have quite a bit to set up, but it’s coming along. 🙂

My Encouragement to You

If you’ve never gotten anything else from following along with me, the one thing I hope you take away is to follow your dreams, work hard, never give up, and NEVER LET FEAR STAND IN YOUR WAY! Become fearless in the pursuit of following your heart’s greatest desire!

Be blessed, friends! And be FEARLESS! xoxo

Other Posts You May Enjoy:

YOU Are Enough: Stop the Comparisons!

My Cup: A Reflection of Obedience in a Time of Brokenness