This post comes with much thought and, at a few moments, stress. As I look forward at this new year and what I imagine it will bring, I am filled with excitement, uneasiness, stress, calm, and wishing someone would invent a pause button already. All this range of emotion, and I have no idea what 2015 will bring.
While I've never been one to stick to my New Year's resolutions to lose weight or eat healthier or get better at staying in touch with friends (I believe most of those require lifestyle changes...more than a "resolve" on a piece of paper), for the past two years I have chosen one word to define my year. Last year my word was "fresh"- I was newly married, newly a mommy and all the world felt fresh. It helped me keep that sense of novelty throughout the entire year, remembering that each day was indeed a fresh start.
The "word" can be a goal you set for yourself, where you see your year heading, or just a simple word of encouragement that you believe will be beneficial to you this year. The "word" should be thought hard about, and prayed about harder. I've found that, when taken seriously, this one word can set the tone for your year and help you better yourself and your outlook. If any of you are choosing a word this year, pleasepleasepleaseplease tell me what it is! I would love to hear how you all apply this challenge in your lives.
My "word" for 2015 is technically a phrase. I couldn't find a single English word that encompassed the entire meaning I pictured in my mind. Hopefully this isn't breaking the rules too much. If you can think of a word that means what I describe, let me know! Thesaurus.com did nothing for me.
Before I reveal my word/phrase/thing I want to elaborate a little bit on why I chose it. I picked my phrase to be an encouraging reminder to myself throughout all the changes this year will bring. A few of which will be- meeting baby #2 (!!), buying our first home (hopefully), becoming debt free, learning more what it means to be in a sacrificial/loving marriage, and did I mention having two babies under the age of two? Thinking about it raises my stress levels more than I'd like to admit. I honestly have no clue how I'm going to take care of two babies and a big part of me is dreading the no-sleep-living-with-your-eyes-half-open-newborn phase so soon after we outgrew it the first time.
But there is another part of me that is ecstatic. I can't wait to do it all over again, as paradoxical and absurd as it sounds. I want to face this year with all its pain (childbirth.....ugh), joy, tears, goals and dreams with hope- embracing every single moment.
That's why I chose hopeful journey as my phrase this year.
Hopeful. Journey. Separately, the words have their own significant meaning, but paired together, it will be impossible to forget that there is hope, always, and that life isn't a straight line, but a journey.
Hope:
"to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence."
I want to always look forward to change and embrace it with confidence.
Journey:
"a traveling from one place to another, usuallytaking a rather long time; trip:
passage or progress from one stage to another"
Life goes in stages, always moving forward, though it often seems static and uneventful. Remembering life as a journey helps keep my sense of adventure and expectancy- instead of drowning in day to day monotony.
While I've never been one to stick to my New Year's resolutions to lose weight or eat healthier or get better at staying in touch with friends (I believe most of those require lifestyle changes...more than a "resolve" on a piece of paper), for the past two years I have chosen one word to define my year. Last year my word was "fresh"- I was newly married, newly a mommy and all the world felt fresh. It helped me keep that sense of novelty throughout the entire year, remembering that each day was indeed a fresh start.
The "word" can be a goal you set for yourself, where you see your year heading, or just a simple word of encouragement that you believe will be beneficial to you this year. The "word" should be thought hard about, and prayed about harder. I've found that, when taken seriously, this one word can set the tone for your year and help you better yourself and your outlook. If any of you are choosing a word this year, pleasepleasepleaseplease tell me what it is! I would love to hear how you all apply this challenge in your lives.
My "word" for 2015 is technically a phrase. I couldn't find a single English word that encompassed the entire meaning I pictured in my mind. Hopefully this isn't breaking the rules too much. If you can think of a word that means what I describe, let me know! Thesaurus.com did nothing for me.
Before I reveal my word/phrase/thing I want to elaborate a little bit on why I chose it. I picked my phrase to be an encouraging reminder to myself throughout all the changes this year will bring. A few of which will be- meeting baby #2 (!!), buying our first home (hopefully), becoming debt free, learning more what it means to be in a sacrificial/loving marriage, and did I mention having two babies under the age of two? Thinking about it raises my stress levels more than I'd like to admit. I honestly have no clue how I'm going to take care of two babies and a big part of me is dreading the no-sleep-living-with-your-eyes-half-open-newborn phase so soon after we outgrew it the first time.
But there is another part of me that is ecstatic. I can't wait to do it all over again, as paradoxical and absurd as it sounds. I want to face this year with all its pain (childbirth.....ugh), joy, tears, goals and dreams with hope- embracing every single moment.
That's why I chose hopeful journey as my phrase this year.
Hopeful. Journey. Separately, the words have their own significant meaning, but paired together, it will be impossible to forget that there is hope, always, and that life isn't a straight line, but a journey.
Hope:
"to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence."
I want to always look forward to change and embrace it with confidence.
Journey:
"a traveling from one place to another, usuallytaking a rather long time; trip:
passage or progress from one stage to another"
Life goes in stages, always moving forward, though it often seems static and uneventful. Remembering life as a journey helps keep my sense of adventure and expectancy- instead of drowning in day to day monotony.
There you have it! My word for 2015. I will try to post updates on how I'm doing throughout the year, so check back often. And again, please let me know your "words" for the year!
1 comments:
I adore that your word is a phrase. Life surely does go in stages and yours is fulllllll to the brim Liv. It is so wise of you to want to be open and embrace change since that really is part of all of our journeys! I just read how God doesn't want to just alter our lives or circumstances, but He wants to completely regenerate us in the like-ness of His Son and that will always involve ....change. You know my word is "deep," but I was so tickled when I asked my husband if he ever thought of having a word for the year. He told me that he did have one. (insert silence) So I pressed in and asked if he would share it with me and then he quietly answered that his word for 2015 was, "others." Love that man so much.
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