{OLW} Being brave and bold

Last month I got a new tattoo.

I have a friend who has fabulous handwriting, so I asked her to write two meaningful worlds for me: brave and bold. She graciously agreed to do it and then I combined the words to create 
a tattoo for me wrist.

On a date night in March, we celebrated our wedding anniversary with a trip to the tattoo parlor. Seriously, does my husband rock or what?

Be brave. Be bold. Each time I look at my wrist I see the words "brave" and "bold" and I am reminded that it takes bravery and boldness to embrace all that comes my way. And it reminds me that I can choose to be brave. I can decide to be bold. I can embrace life.  

I haven't talked a lot about my One Little Word for 2013. I chose the word embrace to help motivate me to embrace the good; embrace the bad; and find joy in everything in between. Leaning into life (and embracing it all) doesn't come naturally to me. I like to manage my life. I like to control my experiences. I don't leave a lot to chance. By being this way, I also miss out on spontaneous moments of joy. I miss out on the chance to fully live. I fail to embrace a lot of opportunities because they don't fit into my plan.

I don't want to be this way. I want to embrace life and live it to the fullest. This desire has motivated me a great deal the last four months. It's motivated me to make all sorts of changes in my life. We've cut out gluten. I've started acupuncture. I've been seeing a therapist (yikes). I've been reading, a lot. I've been focusing on making and cultivating connection. I took  few creative leaps and my bravery was rewarded. I still have a long way to go, but I've be enjoying the experiences that have come with embracing who I am and my life. I'm most grateful for the increased joy my entire family has felt thanks to this journey. We're laughing more. We're snuggling more. We're making priceless memories.

I used to think I wanted to be brave and bold.  I'm learning that I have to be be brave and bold… by doing so, my life is exponentially better.