It is 9:43 pm as I begin typing this blog.  At 8 pm, I realized that it was Thursday which meant that Friday was tomorrow which meant another Faith + Full Time Focus Post was going live… The only hiccup was that I didn’t have a Faith + Full Time Focus post prepared!!  So, at 8 pm I sat down to write today’s blog…and instead watched the Katelyn James webinar.

Conclusion: It is now 9:45 and this is what I have for the blog so far!!

I sat here after the webinar, trying to think of something that I could toss together quickly for today’s post.  I looked through my little book of ideas but nothing seemed to fit.  I have plenty of content that I want to blog about but my heart just wasn’t in any of those ideas tonight.  

I wasn’t on top of todays blog the way I normally am.  Part of that reason is because I thought that Januarywould be slow for AHP.  I was wrong and so far February is proving me wrong too!  These cold winter days of down time have given me the opportunity to work on things that I havent had the opportunity to since I started my business.

Things like updating my website to give my clients a vision of who I am before they even consider hiring me…Or making an action plan of how to enhance and incorporate the AHP client experience into everything that I do for my business….And Creating a 2016 AHP bridal guide….And bettering myself and my business by taking time for some sort of educational content every day….And creating AHP mentoring sessions…And streamlining my business with a new software (cant wait to blog about that one!)….And- what i am most excited about today- Planning the first every AHP style shoot (which is this Sunday!!!)

This year so far has given me the opportunity to step back and see my business in a big picture. I have had time to dream dreams bigger than before and hone in on those dreams to turn them into reality.  Don’t get me wrong, I am always itching to get behind the camera with another fabulous AHP friend!!  However, there is something amazing that I have learned these first few weeks of the year.  Grace is a beautiful thing.  Grace leads to presence + genuineness + a full heart + more smiles than you can imagine with a lot less stress

I heard Jenna Kutcher speak the first week of January and out of all the many amazing speakers I heard that day, Jenna was the one that had me trembling and crying in my seat.  It was as if she had created her entire speech just for me and after hearing her words I knew in my heart that I needed to give myself more credit than I do… More credit, more faith, more patience, more grace.   What that currently means in this exact moment is that if I didn’t have todays blog typed, edited, and ready to go- then thats ok! Because sometimes you have to sacrifice perfection in order to allow something more amazing to take over… Something amazing like Life.

People keep talking about their “Word of the Year”… I didnt think that I had one until now.. 

My word is life… Life, friends…. Because more than anything, I want to build a life with my husband that I am proud of… And I don’t mean financially proud or big house proud of fancy car proud or any of those materialistic things…. I mean actually living this life rather than going through the motions or doing things that other people think I should be doing.  I mean enjoying the little things…And smiling more… And spending more time being present…And spending more time doing things that make my heart happy… Allowing myself to dream bigger than ever before and believing in myself to accomplish those dreams…Setting goals for myself that are based off of my own version of success…Looking ahead to the future, picturing my life in 5 years and taking actionable steps that will get me to that vision.

We spend so much time focusing on what we should be doing or trying to catch up to someone else’s version of success.  We create a vision of success that is molded by society’s expectations and we are so hard on ourselves when we don’t reach those expectations…

I will not spend 2016 living life that way and if that means that I am awake writing a blog this late before bed then thats ok because I probably spent other time this week living out my own version of success…. Like getting pumped for my first styled shoot and loving on my new brides of AHP and savoring my coffee in the early morning sunshine rather than gulping it down in a hurry and snuggling with my husband as we drifted off to sleep rather than staying up late to write the blog yesterday.

My wish for anyone that is reading this is that you would do the same.  Take a look deep inside your heart and imagine something that you could do today that would be uplifting for your soul.  Is it to spend more time laughing?  Or more time cooking?  Or a date night with your husband?  Or more time with your kids?  Or more time snuggling with your pets?  What is one thing that you could do today to make your heart so utterly happy and at peace that you just grin from ear to ear??? 

Now think of something that you “should” do but don’t actually have to get done today.  Something that will eventually need to get done, but it wont be the end of the world if it doesn’t happen right now…  Maybe thats a load of laundry or the dishes in the sink or in my case as of last night, the blog post that should have been done.

Now imagine the those two things and make an effort for the first item to be the priority over the second item because the truth is that we should all be shifting our focus to more on what our hearts are craving rather than the thing that we think we should be doing.

Happy Friday, friends!! Enjoy your weekend and don’t forget to do the thing that makes your heart smile 🙂