Last year was a big year for me – I set a lot of goals for myself and accomplished a lot.

I ran my first half marathon last year, and I loved the challenge so much that I ran a second one before the year was up!

I decided to try out for a play at one of our local theaters, and I landed a role in a production that was extremely meaningful and powerful and I was super proud to be part of it!

My husband and I had the joy of visiting friends in South Korea and seeing the sights in Seoul and Busan!

I went to the Eras Tour in New Orleans!!!

All in all, it was objectively a pretty awesome year!

Part of why I was so motivated to go all carpe diem last year was because I had been in such a funk over infertility, and I wanted to look back on 2024 and say, “that was a great year!” I recognized that (in part because I don’t have more than one child) I had the opportunity, time, and resources to do more things, and I wanted to capitalize on that.

As 2025 rolled around, and I thought about what I wanted my year to look like, I felt myself leaning in the opposite direction. At one of my recent therapy sessions, I told my counselor that I had been putting pressure on myself to do more and achieve more, simply because I “only” had one child. Like I owed it to myself and the world to do big things… While that is not a bad thing to aspire to, my therapist said something that has stuck with me: “you don’t have to try to earn your worth – you can just be.”

While I wouldn’t trade last year for anything, I do think a part of me may have been trying to prove something to myself and others… even if it was only subconsciously.

All that to say, there are seasons to life. Last year was a season of doing more, and now I want to be in a season of doing LESS.

As I began to think more about the idea of “less,” I initially thought about things I could give up doing: like doom scrolling on social media or watching t.v.

But it became less about that (pardon the pun!) and more about slowing down my pace of life and not needing to “do” anything to feel worthy of taking up space.

I thought about simple things I wanted to make more time for – like reading books, taking my dog Oliver out for walks, and cooking one meal a week for my family. I wanted to have more lazy Saturdays where we wake up and have zero plans for the day, and I can just enjoy being in my home with a nice-smelling candle and a warm cup of coffee, cuddled up next to the people (and animals) I love.

I want to have more margin in my life – to not worry about missing out on fun activities that I “should” be doing… especially when I’m so run down that the activities aren’t even fun anymore.

This past Christmas, I had already felt myself naturally wanting to slow down. There are actually a surprising amount of Christmas-themed activities you can do in Abilene, Texas with your family – there’s Winter Lightfest, Christmas at the Zoo, the downtown parade, pancakes with Santa, Fa La La in the Forest… (yes, that’s really a thing at the Abilene State Park). The more I scrolled on Facebook, the more I would find things my family could do – and that pressure to do all things and be all things honestly gave me anxiety. I felt the pressure to take a selfie at every Christmastime event and declare to the world, “I was there! Look at all the fun I had!” FOMO is real.

There’s pressure to be the “Pinterest mom” (do people still say that?) and to give my kid all the “best” experiences… but I found that what my kid was truly desiring to do was to simply just be at home. Or to shorten it even further, to JUST BE.

As January rolled around, I was pretty sure I knew that my word was going to be “less.” But what sealed the deal was when I began reading Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer, and on page 60 it said:

“The call to apprentice under Jesus is a call not to do more but to do less.”

LESS.

LESS.

I’m a believer of Jesus – and I want to be more like him. And to do that, I know that I need to slow down. To spend time in prayer and meditation. To practice resting and Sabbath. To just be with God.

JUST BE.

PRACTICE THE PRESENCE OF GOD.

And when I fill my life up with too much, unfortunately my spiritual life tends to be one of the first things to suffer.

So this year my goals are to slow down, to simplify, to breathe, to create space, to say no… to do less.

I’m worried I might fail miserably at this, but maybe I should add “worry less” to my list too?

Thanks for reading ❤

John Mark Comer also has a book titled The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (it's a bestseller so you may have heard of it or read it…) I'd encourage you, if you feel so inclined, to check out his books!