What Does It Actually Mean to Live in Alignment?

There are 96 days left in 2026 🤯

Which is a great time to look back on the first 9 months and get honest…

The good, the bad, and the what in the Mercury retrograde was THAT?! 😂

My Word of the Year: ALIGNED

I decided to look back at my word of the year, ALIGNED.

(Yes, the irony is not lost on me. 😊)

So…

Am I living more aligned?

And the answer is YES…….. And NO.

Yes, in that I say what I want more often…

No, in that I still people please.

Yes, in that I’m better at recognizing when something doesn’t feel right…

No, in that I don’t always self-correct the moment I recognize it. 😬

Yes, in that I trust myself more…

No, in that I still sometimes default to outside validation for proof.

So… am I more aligned than I was at the beginning of the year?

Absolutely.

Am I walking around as some perfectly aligned, fully self-trusting human who never falls back into old patterns?

Definitely NO. 😂

Maybe Living in Alignment Isn’t About Getting It Right

Of course, being 100% aligned 100% of the time is probably not a realistic goal.

Cuz life be life’ing…

And maybe being ALIGNED isn’t about never getting off track.

Maybe it’s about getting better at noticing when I do… and choosing to REalign (sans the shame spiral). 🌀

Even if that realization comes on some random Tuesday afternoon after I’ve spent 6 hours discussing something with AI that should’ve taken 6 minutes cuz I forgot who I was for a second. 👑😂

You Don’t Have to Wait Until January 1st to Get Back on Track

The good news is, I don’t have to wait for January 1st to start again.

I don’t have to declare the whole year an epic fail (#dramatic) because I got off track somewhere along the way.

I can just ask myself…

Does this still feel aligned with me today?

And if the answer is no?

I give myself some grace and choose again. ❤️

That’s it.

No shame spiral required.

No elaborate plan to reinvent myself starting Monday.

No waiting for a new year, new month, new moon, or Mercury to get its shit together. 😂

Just noticing that something doesn’t feel right anymore and giving myself permission to make a different choice.

Maybe REalignment Is Part of the Process

I think that’s the part I didn’t understand when I chose ALIGNED as my word for 2026.

I thought the goal was to be aligned.

Like I’d arrive there.

I’d know myself well enough, trust myself enough, heal enough old shit, and suddenly I’d stop taking wrong turns.

Turns out… I still take them. 😂

The difference is that I’m getting better at recognizing when I have.

And maybe that’s what alignment actually looks like in real life.

Not perfection.

Not always knowing.

Not never getting lost.

Just knowing myself well enough to notice when something doesn’t feel like me anymore… trusting myself enough to admit it… and giving myself enough grace to choose again.

So here’s to 96 more days of getting it right, getting it wrong, and going around a few more times before I finally learn the lesson. 🎡

Your Turn…