“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” Lucille Ball
Every year since 2012, instead of resolutions I don’t keep, I’ve chosen a word for the year to help reach goals that I may or may not have written down. Sometimes what I want to accomplish is just a thought. I’ve found help making these wishes come true by focusing on my word for the year. Other times, what I wanted to accomplish was a longtime goal written years ago that finally came to pass because of practicing that year’s word.
My words so far have been:
2012 Incremental
2013 Ponder
2014 Content (meaning both satisfied and subject matter)
2015 Revise and Momentum (I chose two words, but it took all year to revise.)
A couple of years in a row, I said my word chose me. This year, my word was chosen for me. For fun, I clicked on en.nametests.com: What is your word for 2016?, not intending to stick with it.
I never would have chosen “Love.” After being assigned it like a school child, I reasoned with a friend why I needed to change my word, “It’s kind of generic. I mean, we all love. I was hoping for a word more meaningful to what’s going on in my life or a word more focused on my writing.”
I hoped for the same thing in 2013 when I ended up with “ponder.” I tried to come up with a more active word, but nothing stuck, so I ended up sitting around all year and thinking. As you probably already guessed, pondering is exactly how that year needed to spent.
Anyhow, I returned six times to the en.nametests.com link, trying to come up with something more fitting than Love, all the while suspecting my word for 2016 had been decided. I’m not sure why I fight my words, but it’s gotten to be a New Year’s tradition.
My husband and I have already begun working towards making our home life emotionally safer, more accepting, and kinder. In other words, we want our home and our relationship to feel more loving. Of course, we love each other, but sometimes in the midst of past hurts and resentments, stress in our daily lives, and the fact that it’s easy to take out frustrations on each other, love isn’t as evident as we’d like it to be.
What is evident, though, is that I don’t love my own life. Most of my frustration comes from starting one of the 11 projects I convince myself has to be done before doing what I want to do and what I think God wants me to do, which is to write about relationships. It’s anything but love (even if it’s a project for someone else) when I put aside my passion and disregard God’s purpose for my life.
All the other relationships in my life, the ones beyond my marriage, would also benefit from me learning how to love while getting on with my own life. This has been a recurring predicament over the years, one that I’m finally making my blog’s focus – how to love and write about it.
The more I think about what a writer friend recently told me about focusing my blog on relationships, the more I recognize Love perfectly fits my life and my writing for 2016. She said, “I’ve noticed you get the most comments on your relationship posts. They are also the ones you write about most passionately.”
So, the fight is over. Love is my word for 2016. I’m looking forward to learning how to love the people around me while writing about us.
I’d like to hear from you about your Word for 2016 – what it is and how you chose it (or how it chose you). For more info on the concept and on choosing a word, check out MyOneWord.org.
In Joy,
Kim
I love your word and your initial treatment of it. We would all benefit in life if we put more of our love into it and worked at eliminating the strife and trauma.
I agree, Judy. If I\’ll keep Love in mind and be more intentional about putting it into action, I\’m sure it\’ll be life changing. Thanks for stopping by!
Happy New Year, Kim! The past two years I felt like a word was thrust upon me, but that hasn\’t happened yet. I may be trying too hard to find the \”perfect\” fit instead of allowing myself to be directed by what God has for me. Which is why I may be totally avoiding the word \”surrender\” which popped in my head while I was typing this – a focus of today\’s church sermon followed by the hymn \”I Surrender All.\” Hmmmm. Not sure I\’m glad I stopped by, but probably needed to! Looking forward to hanging out with you in 2016 – and haven\’t given up on the thought that might one day mean in person! May 2016 be your most loving year yet!
Hahaha, Shel. I love that we\’re fellow fighters when it comes to our words for the year. We\’ve been kindred spirits from the beginning. To offer all the support I can, I would hate if my word was \”surrender,\” which probably means I\’m already set up for 2017. 😉 It\’s okay, though, because I\’ve almost given up on trying to control everything and everyone, so I\’m sure by next year I\’ll give in even easier.
I look forward to hanging out this year, too. I couldn\’t keep up with blogging and reading blogs and writing and, really, much of anything as last year whirled by, but I\’m hoping for a more focused (and, yes, loving) 2016. I haven\’t given up either on meeting in person! I appreciate our friendship so much.
May 2016 be your most, um, well, you know. Good luck surrendering to it!
Enjoyed your post, Kim! Happy New Year and good luck with your word for the year!
Deirdre W. Edmonds
Law Office of Deirdre W. Edmonds, PA
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Thanks so much, Deirdre. If you choose a word, I hope you\’ll stop back by and let us know what it is. Happy 2016!
\”Happiness\” is my word for 2016. I just laughed because that\’s the exact word I need in my life….at this very moment….nothing happens by accident.. .God\’s perfect plan!
I love it, Patty. You\’re right, life is orchestrated for us, if only I\’d settle into it. I\’m guessing you didn\’t fight with your word? LoL. Thanks for reading and commenting.
I love the word \”love\” for you. Actually we should all choose that word. I\’ve still been waffling about my word. As I mentioned to you when I saw you in the Lowe\’s parking lot a few weeks ago, the word \”joy\” keeps coming to me. I\’m still not sure that\’s the word I want for the year, but it has been following me everywhere begging \”Pick me, pick me!\” as I try to ignore it. Even while reading this blog, I was thinking of other words I may want for the year. However, yet again, \”joy\” found me. At the very end, you signed your post, \”In joy.\” I cannot escape this word! Maybe it\’s time to resign myself and embrace it. Lol! And maybe it isn\’t so much about me having more joy (because I feel like I have lots of joy in my life), but about helping others have joy?
Anjana, thanks for your encouraging comment. I gave into \”love\” pretty easily. I guess I\’m tired of fighting my words, especially since they always win.
I\’m happy to help \”joy\” out anyway I can. It\’s a great word and it deserves a chance! 😉 Let me know when you settle on it.
Why not love ? God is LOVE!
That\’s the same conclusion I came to, Bob. 🙂
I love it when two great minds come together..
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Kim Henson Perry Tesh, this made me really laugh out loud. Fits perfectly with choosing a word instead of writing out a bunch of resolutions about all I plan to change. I\’ve already eaten chocolate, so there\’s one down. LoL.
Kim Henson\’s photo. (Cartoon that says, \”What exactly is a New Year\’s resolutions?\” \”It\’s a to do list for the first week of January.\”
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