Fill up to Spill out

Does anyone else dislike January and February as much as I do?  I think I write about this every single year, because this is how I feel each time we reach these 2 dark, cold, dreary months of the year.  At the end of each calendar, I get all geeked out about a new year and new goals, and then just a few days into January, I start getting in a funk.  Daylight is scarce, it's cold and gray, my work is busy, and these months follow all my favorite holidays, giving me a case of the blues and blahs.  Can anyone else relate?   Add in the global pandemic and all the not-so-fun stuff surrounding it, a transition of government leadership in a time like no other, as well as all the negativity, hate, and division going on in our country, and January just kind of stinks, right?   Believe it or not, January is my birthday month, but I can't say I have ever liked it.  It follows Christmas and precedes Valentine's Day.  And did I mention it's cold and gray and gloomy?  It's just

  Happy New Year friends!  We have finally made it to 2021 after walking through a year that was filled with enormous disappointment, loss, stress, and overwhelm.  I feel like 2020 was bittersweet.  It was hard, but good. It was sad, but also filled with joy.  It was not what we planned for, but also filled with unexpected gains and valuable lessons.  It's a year I will never forget.   Are you a goal-setter, do you like beginning of the year resolutions, or do you prefer to pick a power word for the year?   2020 was the first time I have picked a word for the year, and I think it definitely set the tone for the year like no other.  I chose COURAGE as my word, and I couldn't have chosen anything better.  In 2020, I showed up with courage over fear again and again as I  worked as a nurse practitioner during a global pandemic, pursued my dream as a writer and 2-time author, increased my presence on social media to spread joy and encouragement in a really tough season, and I had co