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If you read very many blogs you have probably seen a post of two about bloggers picking their Word of the Year.
Last year I jumped on the bandwagon and declared a word of the year for 2009.
I dedicated a Christmas tree to the word…
and I also have the word inscribed on one of the walls of my home. Yes, my word was Joy.
I worked hard all year (and it was an especially difficult one in several ways) to find my Joy. It wasn’t always easy but I think I am a happier and more joyful person as a result of it. I dealt with difficult situations better and found joy in the small, simple things of everyday life.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and praying about what my word for 2010 should be. I wanted to make sure it was just the right word. The word finally came to me last Wednesday, a week into 2010, after attending a temple session.
My “word” of the year is ‘Re’. No, I don’t mean ‘Re’, the second note of a major scale or ‘Re’ the ancient Egyptian sun god with the head of a hawk; a universal creator; he merged with the god Amen as Amen-Ra to become the king of the gods or even ‘Re’ the element from the periodic table.
I mean ‘Re’ the prefix! The prefix which means again, back, repeat.
You see, as I pondered 2010, turning 50, and my goals for the next year and era of my life I realized there were not too many new things I wanted to do or accomplish.
But there were a lot of things that I wanted to return to, skills I wanted to refine or reclaim. People I wanted to reconnect with, things I wanted to rediscover about myself, places I wanted to revisit (and sometimes visit for the first time). And most important there were things I wanted to remember (and that can be difficult at my age sometimes!) And now that I am fifty I figured it was about time I learned how to relax!
See something in common with all those words? Yes, they all start with my word of the year, ‘Re’!
In 2010 I look forward to:
Refocusing my photography skills by taking a photography class (it started this week!)
Refresh my French language skills before my visit to Paris this summer. (those 8 years of high school and college French are a little rusty!!) Refresh my water color skills from college by taking a class before my trip to England so I can document the trip through photos and painting.
Read more books this year than last (o.k. so it’s not a prefix in that word but it is still ‘Re’) Reread the Book of Mormon (a yearly tradition for me)
Remake my bed everyday (Yes, that is a confession. I hate making my bed but I love the way my bed looks when it is made. I am going to make my bed everyday!)
Return to the homeland of my ancestors and do some genealogy research before I go so I can visit the places where they lived.
Remember all the amazing memories we have created as a family by finally having all my scrapbooks up to date!
Most importantly, I am going to Remember to Recognize the hand of the Lord in my life on a daily basis. Last year I started keeping a journal that I would write in each night or morning where I would record a way in which I had seen the hand of the Lord in my life that day.
Some days it was as simple as…”enjoyed a walk through Oak Hills today, beautiful fall foliage, sunshine and good friends.”
Other entries read…”our car doesn’t need the $700.00 of repairs we thought!”
I know that the Lord’s hand is involved in my life on a daily basis and I need to do a better job of remembering and recognizing that! Writing in this journal each day is a wonderful way to see his hand at work in my life. This year I will do better in writing daily!
There are several other ‘Re’ goals on the list but I won’t bore you with all of them.
So do you think ‘Re’ would look too strange engraved on a piece of silver hanging around my neck?
Do you have a Word of the Year for 2010? I’d love to know what it is!
Penny says
Hi Leigh Anne:
My word for the the year is “Fearless” because in reading over my journal from the last few years it is filled with doubts, worries, and second guessing myself in so many silly ways. I am sure many of us deal with these issues from time to time, but I had taken it to a level where I saw myself becoming unhealthy in so many ways.
I have signed up for classes, pushed my own boundaries (in a positive way) and have let go some baggage that has been keeping me in a place of anxiousness. It has not gone perfectly or even “fearlessly”, but I have seen changes and have tried to focus on that.
I have the word Fearless printed out in several fonts, in several colors and I have tucked them in various places around my office and studio, in my piles of stuff to sort through and in the car, refrigerator, computer screen etc. It has been the only way for me to have a daily reminder often enough so I can respond to my own goal.
It’s working!