Happy New Year! I know we’re almost a week into our new year and I’ve been putting off goal writing, but it has to be done so here I am. Before I do that, I need to look back at 2018. Where to start with 2018…honestly, the end of 2017 and going into 2018 were a blur. I lost my dad a week before Christmas 2017 and life as I knew it came to a screeching halt. I remember writing down some basic goals; practice patience, get back to eating clean and exercising regularly. Now, looking back, they were pretty good goals to have considering where I was at in my life. As a Speech Therapist I always think that goals need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound). In my work and personal life, writing SMART goals have given me success, but 2018 taught me that sometimes you have to ditch the SMART plan and go with the flow. When I wrote out practice patience, I meant for it to benefit my kids, husband and family because I can be annoyingly impatient at times. What I didn’t expect was my whole notion of patience to be put to the test by grief. I thought I knew what grief was prior to losing my dad. I grieved when I lost my two grandfathers when I was in my 20s; I had Post Partum Depression and Anxiety after both kids; so I thought I knew what extreme sadness felt like. This grief was like no other. I called it the thief. At times, it was so debilitating that it felt like it was robbing my whole soul from me. I fought this feeling until I realized I couldn’t. Patience. I missed my happy, energetic go lucky self. Patience. It became the theme in my life during 2018. Grieve, patience, grace…repeat. Remember mamas when you were teaching your little ones how to walk? You had to stand them up, help them get their balance, assist them in those first steps, let go and let them try, stumble, fall and then get back up to try all over again. That was me last year learning to navigate life without the most important man in my life. It was like learning to walk again. I just had to live and keep going. Patience was my parent last year, patience and some grace got me through the days. Patience allowed me to accept love and support from my family, amazing friends and coworkers. Patience also allowed me the grace to stay consistent with my other two goals, eating clean and exercising. I entered 2019 12 pounds lighter than I did in 2018 (yay!). So…what SMART goals are you setting this year, Daniella? None. That’s right, I’m not setting any of those this year. I will continue practicing patience with myself, eating clean(ish) and exercising but my main goal for 2019…live in the moment and to find balance in this awesome, chaotic life. ~~Daniella

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