These are my words for 2015.

I want to come to terms with letting some things go, in order to have more time for others. I want to learn how to better put things into perspective, and to spend more time creating lasting memories. I want to strive to strike a balance between connecting with people through social media, and forgetting about the internet for a while to connect with people personally. I want to find the line of learning for school and learning for me. Life cannot be time-lined and perfectly planned; I need to embrace this and do my best to strike a balance.

For someone who finds herself swept away at times by the world’s message of “have more, do more, more, more, more,” I want to ground myself in the beauty of simplicity and less being more. I love all of the incredible ideas available at the blink of an eye through the internet and social media, but it’s easy to get lost in what I do not have. When I take a moment to be thankful for everything I do have, I find myself much more content and peaceful. Same concept goes for the pressure to be involved in and excel at everything. It is not, in fact, necessary. It is possible to lead a more simplistic life and still be happy.

Freedom. From… silly rules …anxious habits …pointless compulsions …worry …pressure to be, do, act. This year is going to be about learning to live the life God intends for me to live.

That is a pretty heavy statement to make, but the key word is learning. It’s an on-going process that is not perfect. This is the year that I will graduate from high school. This is the year I will move out and go off to college. This is the year in which I hope I will finally go to Africa. This year will see so many big milestones in my life, and I want to enjoy it. I want to live it, free.

My main focus this year is those three little words at the start of this post. I simply cannot help but set a few solid, clear goals though. So, with balance, simplicity, and freedom in mind, I have created a short list of New Year Resolutions:

Attempt to keep a twelve o’clock bedtime.

I know, I know. Midnight? I just want to get to sleep by midnight? Trust me, this is pretty big for a girl who at one point a few years ago probably could have been diagnosed with insomnia, something I do not say lightly.

Spend time in God’s word, almost daily.

I say almost daily because I’m trying to be realistic with myself: it’s not going to happen every single day. I want to do my best, and let go of the rest.

Read twelve books before the year is up.

A meager amount, but I only read seven for pleasure within 2014. It’s not that I don’t like to read, I was once an avid bookworm who spent every cent I had on new books and had one on my person at all times. It is that I do not make the time to do it, and I find it hard to concentrate on large amounts of text for lengthy periods of time. I’m working on it.

Drink lemon water often.

I don’t have anything against plain water. I actually like it just fine and typically drink it and milk on a day-to-day basis. Lemon water has so many great benefits though such as better digestion, a boosted immune system and energy level, reduced inflammation, clearer skin, you get the picture. It can be a nice change for the taste buds as well.

Bake, at least once a month.

I am forever pinning recipes for cookies and brownies and sweet breads and all other sorts of mouth-watering delights, yet I never take the time to print them off, get the ingredients, and actually attempt to make something that even somewhat resembles the master-pieces that are the recipes of Pinterest. This, for me, is going to be part of balance and freedom. Baking for no reason other than to have something yummy and fresh in the house is something I would normally see as a waste of time. It’s fun and frivolous and good for the soul though, and I want to make a point to do it.

There’s plenty more that I could add, but my true focuses are balance, simplicity, freedom. I think that if I work towards those three things, everything else will fall into place as it should.