Every year, December rolls toward its end and suddenly the world feels obsessed with new beginnings. “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” becomes everyone’s favorite question right up there with, “Did you finish all the leftovers yet?”

But here’s the truth most of us already know: Resolutions can feel like pressure. Intentions feel like guidance. A resolution is a rule. An intention is a direction.

Resolutions often sound like:

“I’m going to finally quit this.”

“I’m going to perfectly start that.”

“I’m going to change everything starting January 1st.” And by January 20th? Many of us are stressed, tired, or wondering why the “new me” still feels exactly like… well, me.

Intentions, on the other hand, don’t ask you to overhaul your life overnight. They whisper instead of scream. They grow with you. They bend with your mood, your energy, your reality.

An intention simply says:

“Here’s the direction I’m moving in, gently and consistently.” 

My intention is to give myself more grace in everything. I tend put undue pressure on myself to be everything and everyone to every one else, but me. Then I drain my mental and social batteries trying to accomplish it. It creates anxiety within me and I get overwhelmed. So my intention is to learn to say no more than I do and to charge my own batteries before I lend the "power source". 

What's your intention?