My One Word for 2021

Instead of making New Year resolutions, some people choose One Word for the year.  Sometimes the word seems to pick you.  Such was the case with my word for 2021.

I love it when my word for the next year comes to me early - usually in the late fall sometime. That's what happened this year.  Around the end of October or the beginning of November, my One Word for 2021 first became known to me.  

The word that presented itself was "Challenge"

My initial reaction?  "Oh - NO, thank you." After the year that 2020 turned out to be, the last thing I wanted was more challenges in my life!  I mean, c'mon! Give a gal a break already! Amiright?  How about "calm"?  Or "peace"?

The word kept coming up.  Everywhere I turned there seemed to be a new sign pointing me in that direction. I wasn't going to be easily convinced though.  I thought about it.  A lot.  I prayed about it.  A LOT.  I kept asking God over and over to give me another word for 2020.  An easier word. Any. Other. Word.  

But as week after week passed and we moved closer to the end of the year, Challenge persisted in its campaign to become the One Word for 2021.  It weighed on my mind.  It began to create a hazy image of what a year of Challenge might look like. Surprisingly, it wasn't necessarily bad.

So...  I surrendered to the word.  And that's how "Challenge" became my One Word for 2021.  

2021 will be a year for me to challenge myself.  A challenge to let go of all the baggage from 2020 and move forward to whatever the future holds for me. To try new things.  To stretch outside the cozy little comfort zone that all the uncertainty of the past year inspired me to create for myself.  It will be a year for challenging myself to create new routines and habits and let go of ones that I have outgrown. To try new things.  To have new experiences.  A year for growth and renewal.

Do you set resolutions or select a word or phrase to guide you through the year?  Tell me about it in the comments!

My One Word: JOY

If you're like me (and I have a feeling that many of you are)  - new year's resolutions just never seem to work out.  At the beginning of every year, I used to make a list of resolutions.  And every year, I would come to the end of December having succeeded in few - if any - of them.  It was quite frustrating.  And very discouraging.

Gone are the long lists of resolutions.  Now I have one word which becomes my focus for the year.  A word to study, to meditate on, to incorporate into my life and help me move closer to being the person I am meant to be.

This year's word is...  JOY

JOY:
(noun)  a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.  a thing that causes joy.
(verb)  rejoice.


I want to find joy in all things.  To have it soak through every aspect of my life.  My attitude.  My marriage.  My relationships.  My work.  To experience the joy that isn't felt only in the good times, when circumstances are good.  But the kind of joy that is present even when things are tough.  The type of joy that is found in the presence of the Lord.  And to share that joy with others.

Do you make new year's resolutions?  Or do you have one word for the year? 

Better in 2016

Resolutions and I had a love/hate relationship for years.  I loved making them with every new year.  By March I hated myself when it became clear that I was not going to achieve most (or all) of them. It never ended well. This is why for the past few years I have selected one word as a focus for the year rather than making resolutions.

The word always seems to present itself to me in some way as the current year draws to a close.  I never have to go looking too hard for it.  Usually an idea comes from somewhere and then keeps recurring in different ways.  Like directional signs on life's highway, telling me that this is indeed the way I am supposed to go.  Gentle hints from God that this should be my focus for the coming year.

For 2016 the word that has been given to me is Better:

Better relationships.

Better health.

Better work habits.

Better organization and planning.

Better communication with the Lord.

A Better year.

A Better life.

A Better me.

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