Word Of The Year For 2023

 

Redemption

I hadn't even given much thought to what my word of the year would be for 2023 until Friday, when I was browsing Facebook and saw that Emmanuel Acho had chosen the word "redemption" as his word of 2023.  Acho defined "redemption" as the act of regaining or gaining possession of something. That didn't immediately grab my attention as a word I might consider. It was only after I read the reason he chose that word that it clicked with me as being a word I might choose. Acho said 2022 was the hardest year of his life; and that, in 2023, he will be fighting to redeem his joy, his peace, and his full emotional health. 

That's when the bell went off for me. I lost myself in 2022. I read less, I didn't refinish or paint one piece of furniture, I didn't spend evenings on the patio I'd worked so hard to make lovely. I spent far too much time mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and Instagram. We hardly traveled. There were a lot of reasons for this, not the least of which is an almost eleven month battle with back pain. 

In 2023, I am choosing to redeem my joy, my peace, and my emotional health. 

One Word 2021

 

In 2017, Sheila of Book Journey first introduced me to choosing one word as a theme for a new year. I knew that New Year's resolutions never worked for me and had given up on those. But the idea of thinking about making changes based on a word appealed to me. The idea is that the one word will impact all dimensions of your life: mental, physical, emotional, relational, spiritual, and financial 

In the past, I've chosen "heart" two years and last year I chose "enough." Those first two years didn't pan out as I'd hoped but I did much better last year, setting a new goal each month and trying to build on each of them. Each of those years I gave a lot of thought to what I wanted my word to be and how I could work it into my life. This year, my word just came to me and I knew as soon as I thought of it that it would work for me in a lot of ways. 

Reconnet: 

verb

- to join or be joined again with something else again after being separated

- to improve a relationship that has become less good or less close

- to make you feel or understand something that you had stopped feeling or understanding

Each month I'll set up a plan for working the idea of reconnecting into my daily life. After a year of not being able to see people, obviously one of my big priorities is to physically reconnect with people. But while I'm waiting for that to be safe again, I want to push myself to reconnect in the other ways that are still possible. I want to reconnect with the things I love and the person I want to be. To help hold myself accountable to this, I'll make a plan in my bullet journal for each new month and I'll try to share that plan here as well because one of my plans will definitely be reconnecting with the blogging community. I have "met" so many people through this community that I consider friends and I don't want to lose that connection!

One Word - 2019

I started thinking about what my One Word for 2019 would be back in December. I wondered if it was even worth bothering with – my track record on following up with my One Word is not good. But hope springs eternal, as they say, and I wanted to try again. For a long while, I considered the word “no” as my word for 2019. “No, you may not have a second donut,” “No excuses, get to the gym,” “No, I’m sorry but I don’t have time to do that thing you are asking me to do.” But no matter how hard I tried to think of it as a positive thing, “no” still felt negative. So I took to the internet. What were other people choosing? And then, without even looking at the person’s reason for choosing the word, I found someone who had chosen the word “enough” and I knew that was my word, too. 

Merriam Webster has these definitions for “enough:”

1. occurring in such quantity, quality, or scope as to fully meet demands, needs, or expectations.
2. in or to a degree or quantity that satisfies or that is sufficient or necessary for satisfaction; fully, quite; in a tolerable degree.
3. a sufficient number, quantity, or amount.

Oxford Dictionary also includes:

Used to indicate that one is unwilling to tolerate any more of something undesirable.

I chose the word “enough” to:

• Remind myself at meals to stop eating when I’ve had enough, to drink enough water, to get enough sleep, to work out enough,
• Say “no” when I’ve done enough already or have enough to do already,
• Remind myself to make enough time for the things that are important and the people I care about, 
• Be happy with what I have
• Remind myself that I am enough. As Stuart Smalley used to say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” I was a joke when they did the skit on SNL all of those years ago but it really is something we all need to remember.  I really am smart enough, skilled enough, talented enough, creative enough to take on anything I choose and strong enough to bear anything that life throws at me. 

Going forward, the goal is to really work, each month, on new ways to implement this word into my life and to be mindful of it every day.

My One Word

It's that time of year again. Time to pick a word for the year, my one word, that I will do a terrific job of focusing on for a couple of months and then forget about for the rest of the year. I put a lot of thought into my word for last year, "heart." But last year really got away from me on so many levels; I even spent a good chunk of the year with a broken heart. Still, it's a great word. A word that still holds a lot of meaning for me and represents all of the things I want to make this year about. So, my word for 2018 will, again, be "heart."

noun
1. Anatomy. a hollow, pumplike organ of blood circulation
2. the center of the total personality, especially with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion
3. the center of emotion, especially as contrasted to the head as the center of the intellect
4. capacity for sympathy; feeling; affection
5. spirit, courage, or enthusiasm
6. the innermost or central part of anything

verb
1. after one's own heart, in keeping with one's taste or preference
2. at heart, in reality; fundamentally; basically
3. break someone's heart, to cause someone great disappointment or sorrow
4. by heart, by memory; word-for-word
5. cross one's heart, to maintain the truth of one's statement; affirm one's integrity
6. do someone's heart good, to give happiness or pleasure to; delight
7. to have sorrow or longing dominate one's emotions; grieve inconsolably

I want to take better care of my own heart physically and spiritually this year. But, as I said last year:

"I want my heart to be the center of my personality and I want it to guide me to show my feelings in more concrete ways. I want to live with spirit, courage, and enthusiasm. I want to do the things that do my heart good, that give me pleasure and happiness."

And I want to do the things that will fill others' hearts with joy and to affirm my integrity. To keep me from straying so badly again, I'm going to be putting together a plan that will remind me to stay focused. I'll be incorporating some of what I had planned to do with my Happiness Project last year (another thing that got lost by the wayside) and using  my bullet journal to track my progress. I've always lead with my heart. It's time to put that to good use!

Do you pick a word for the year? If you have, what's your one word and why did you choose it?

One Word - 2017

Sheila, of Book Journey, has invited everyone to again choose a word for the year. In 2013 she found this site that suggested choosing one word to live your new year by rather than setting resolutions. In 2014 I saw a man named Jon Gordon talk about doing this and I was as enthused about it as Sheila was the year before.

In 2014, I picked the word "self." And then I forgot all about it (kind of like those resolutions I previously picked). It was a good word and it was a shame I didn't follow up with it. I didn't even think about a word for 2015. Maybe because 2014 was a bust? Last year, I picked the word "happier." I did a better job with it, helped by the little notes I put up all over with the word on it. Still, I wish I had done better and vowed that I really needed to choose a word this year that is perfect for what I want from myself this year, one that can really be a driving goal.

I probably considered 20 different words for 2017, thinking of the way they would apply to me, looking at their dictionary definitions. I looked at other people's words for the past few years. I thought about exactly what my goals are. I have to get some (a lot) of weight off, I need to eat better, I want to reduce stress - all of which improve my physical well being, especially my heart health. As soon as I thought of it that way, I knew what my word for 2017 would be - "heart."

heart 
noun
1. Anatomy. a hollow, pumplike organ of blood circulation
2. the center of the total personality, especially with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion
3. the center of emotion, especially as contrasted to the head as the center of the intellect
4. capacity for sympathy; feeling; affection
5. spirit, courage, or enthusiasm
6. the innermost or central part of anything

verb
1. after one's own heart, in keeping with one's taste or preference
2. at heart, in reality; fundamentally; basically
3. break someone's heart, to cause someone great disappointment or sorrow
4. by heart, by memory; word-for-word
5. cross one's heart, to maintain the truth of one's statement; affirm one's integrity
6. do someone's heart good, to give happiness or pleasure to; delight
7. to have sorrow or longing dominate one's emotions; grieve inconsolably

"Heart" suits me for 2017 for the physical reasons but it also suits me for it's other meanings. I want my heart to be the center of my personality and I want it to guide me to show my feelings in more concrete ways. I want to live with spirit, courage, and enthusiasm. I want to do the things that do my heart good, that give me pleasure and happiness.

I have a goal this year, a wedding in six months. It's important to me that this celebration of the heart be my focus in taking care of my own heart in 2017.

Are you picking one word for 2017? If so, what is your word?