The idea of a New Year’s Resolutions have been around, well, probably forever. I’ve made New Year’s Resolutions and first of the month resolutions. Why wait until January when I can start to improve (insert new goal) now. Of course I can break those resolutions just as easily the second week of March or August as I can in January. And I do!

A few years ago I heard about choosing a word for the year. I tried to Google the origin of a word for the year, there is so much information, blogs, websites, books, ways to choose your word, even a word of the year generator. Wow! One little word, words of the year, my word; whatever you want to call it the idea is pretty much the same. It’s a word you incorporate into every aspect of life, family, friends, health, work. It’s how you think about everything.

What appeals to me about the word of the year is that it isn’t just a checklist or a broad goal, it’s a way of thinking about the big picture. “I’m going to saying to spend less and save more.” That is a great resolution until I get a 30% off coupon (including sale items) at one of my favorite department stores. Yep, there goes that resolution. I’m a champion “spaver”. I’m also not very good at following through, as I write this I’m 3 days behind on goals I’ve set, one of which is just for a month.

My word for 2018 is proactive. I know it’s only September, so to be proactive I’m not waiting until December (realistically New Year’s Eve) to pick my word for 2019. The word that keeps coming to mind is consistency, but the word didn’t seem broad enough for the entire year. After some brainstorming and looking up definitions on dictionary.com I decided on 3 words for 2019. I couldn’t decide on just one word that would encompass my vision for the next year.

Intentional (adjective) think carefully or attentively, reflect. I want to give more thought to time management, family, friends, finances and work. To plan better and not feel like I’m always just trying to catch up.

Expand (verb) to grow, stretch, broaden. As in “expand your horizons”. I got a jump-start with that on starting the blog.

The last word is more of a life word than just for a year, it’s Grace. Synonyms for grace are clemency, favor, pardon. Pardon (verb) forgive or excuse a person, error or offense. I want to be more liberal with extending grace to others and myself. I’ll make mistakes while I’m expanding out of my comfort zone and I will fail at times. I need to remember to give myself grace and move on.

I’d love to know if you have a word or words for the year. Let me know in the comments below.

 

 

Words are powerful. They can be used to instruct, comfort, entertain, build up or tear down. Those are big things words can do but they also have an impact on how we feel about everyday activities and situations. For me, the phrase “I have to” (fill in the blank) makes the activity a duty, creating a feeling that I don’t have a choice if I do it or not. Some things I may not have a choice, like laundry and, yes, I will clean the bathrooms. I do however have a choice as to how I view the chore. “Today I have to do laundry” creates a negative feeling an obligation. Activities (mostly) aren’t positive or negative by themselves. It’s what we tell ourselves about the activity that creates negative or positive emotions. “Today I’m going to do the laundry” doesn’t have the negative attribute attached to it, it simply is doing the laundry.

I don’t live close to my Dad, so I call him on my days off when I have time to really chat, it’s how we stay connected. I noticed I was developing a bad attitude about calling him, I think he noticed too. I was telling myself I “have to” call Dad. I am grateful I still have him to talk to but that wasn’t reflected in how I felt about checking in with him. This week I told myself, “I get to talk to Dad on Friday”. We had the best chat we’ve had in a long time. I know that had a lot to do with my attitude going into it, getting to talk to Dad created a feeling of excitement, “have to” created a feeling of duty.

Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft host the podcast Happier. They call this reframing. Gretchen mentioned this on an episode recently when she was going to sort her books. She said she was going to call it a “book review”. Reviewing the books you have to pass some on to others sounds so much more like fun than “sorting and purging” them. (Added bonus of the book review, you might find a bookmark your husband gave you that you thought was lost.)

Maybe it is just putting a positive spin on everyday life, but with so much negativity all around, why not put a positive spin on whatever you can whenever you can? It might just change your outlook in other areas.