As the new year stumbled into our lives, chasing out the fires of 2018 and encouraging us into the excitement of new promises, I found myself feeling stalled. I stood in the deep Colorado snow as midnight struck, accompanied by my sister and dear friend, watching the stars light up the vast horizon of the mountainous night sky… and remembered how I had welcomed in the year of 2018. Ankle deep in another form of water, across the world on a Thailand beach. That night had seemed so magical and welcomed so many insights, it had set the standards very high.

So as I stood there ready to take in the new year, I felt that familiar touch of disappointment threatening to reveal itself. Had I not had enough lessons this year for another insight to befall me on this magical evening?

I smiled as it hit me;

Expectations. Our dangerous foe. We set so many on the majority of what we encounter in life, and the worst we generally place on ourselves. I still have to remind myself constantly that I am on the path for me, at my pace. I think we could all use this reminder a bit more often.

And I think it is in these silent, hard moments when we feel off when we feel the most lost… I think it is in these moments when we are truly finding ourselves. We are in the process of redefining, of finding our path. Maybe it is the one we have been working on all along, just looking at it with new eyes. Maybe it is a totally new path as we pull ourselves back together. But nonetheless, it is your path that you are stumbling along.

So, embrace it. Embrace the hard moments. Maybe you are not lost at all, just wandering.

Wander into 2019. Let go of expectations, but hold a place for excitement, vulnerability, and love. The year ahead is yours for the making and the taking if you are willing to embrace it.