There is a movement that has apparently been around for some time within certain church-y communities to choose “one word” each year. The purpose of this, is to stop making those pesky New Year’s resolutions that most people quit after a month or two, and instead, choose a word, just one word, that centers on your character and allows you to focus and create a vision for your future.
Ok, so far, so good.
After that, they start talking about G-d and I stopped reading.
I don’t have a problem with G-d exactly, I just have a problem with being preached to and being told how I need to have a relationship with him/her/it. I am more a spiritual person and do things in a more non-traditional, non-church-y way.
So, I’ve decided to choose a word anyway, on my own terms. Thankful.
In this life, we have choices, however, those choices have consequences. We can walk around being pessimistic all of our lives, but that gets us nowhere, other than being miserable. Trust me, I speak from experience. I’ve actually always been what I like to call an optimistic pessimist. I am positive that everything is going to turn to shit at some point!
That’s not to say that we should not assess the risk in situations, and make smart choices. There’s nothing wrong with making an informed decision. You can no more go through life thinking everything is always going to go to shit than you can always think everything is going to come up roses. Extremes in either direction are not healthy. Savvy?
We have to find balance. Balance is key.
Once we’ve found that balance, and in the course of figuring it out, we need to stop and smell the roses so to speak. Hell, stop to smell the actual roses! That’s where my word comes in for me. Thankful. I’ve set my intention for the year. No resolutions. I never stick to them. I make tons of lists, tell all my friends, and then I get too busy or myriad other excuses. But I can stick to a word.
Thankful can mean so many things. Gratitude. Pleased. Grateful. Content. Oh…that last one. So many times in life, we are searching for something BIG. We need this orgasm from life, and are simply not happy with just being content. Contentment is actually a wonderful thing.
So this year, I choose to go through each day finding ways to be all of those things, one of those things, any of those things. And I will take note of them, literally.
I can not wait to see how my life changes.
