Perspective

It is that time of year again. The curtain closes on 365 days of my life and I, like many others, look back on where I have been.

In January 2017, I selected "conscious" as my focus word for the year and I tried to use it as a guide. I was conscious about thinking before I spoke (and sometimes deciding NOT to speak), conscious about my money and how I spent it, and conscious about my relationships with others and how I decided to nurture them. The word served me well!

As I sit here on the threshold of the next 365 days I once again tried to pick the perfect word- that one little word that would help me to ground me and guide me. This meant looking ahead to the things I already KNOW will happen: selling our house, leaving my job, finding a new house, finding a new job, watching my son embark on his own life outside of our family home, rejoicing with my daughter as she graduates college, takes the NCLEX, and gets married.

Many people facing all of this would have selected the word "change" as their One Little Word, but I did not want to focus on the changes. Instead, I want to focus on how I deal with them. I do not want to allow myself to get bogged down in what COULD BE. Rather, I want to focus on what ACTUALLY IS. Because of this, my word for 2018 is PERSPECTIVE.

I want to keep the changes in my life in perspective, focusing on the possibilities rather than the immediate impact. I want to look for the bright spot at the end of the storm, not the thunder claps and lightning bolts. As the changes require decisions, I want to take the time to truly examine my choices and look at the possibilities from all perspectives. And most importantly of all, I want to consider God's perspective- what does HE want for me, for my family, and for my future?

Though 2018 is very "fuzzy" now, I am certain that my perspective will become clearer as the days of the New Year go on.

What about you? Do you have One Little Word that you have selected for the new year? I would love for you to share it with us!  Post a comment below and tell us a bit about it. If you care to, you can even follow my blog as I post updates regularly. We can all offer support to one another as the year goes on and we truly welcome our word into our lives. Just go over to the right and become a follower!

Balance in Life

For each of the past 2 or 3 years, I have made time to sit down at the end of the calendar year, reflect on the last 12 months, and think about what I wanted for the next 12 months. From that, I select one single word that I use as my "Word for the Year". I think on that word throughout the year and allow it to help me make purposeful decisions.

This year I have spent at least three days thinking about what it was that I want for myself for the next year. What do I want to change? What do I need from God? What do I need to do in order to achieve my goals? Tonight..... my word finally came.

I was reading Ecclesiastes 3 and thinking about what God told us about time. I had always thought about this particular scripture as just explaining to us that life isn't always what we want. It isn't always laughing, happiness, searching, or love. Tonight I realized that for me, it means much more.

In recent years I have found myself devoting more and more time to career. It isn't just the usual 8 to 3 school day. I bring home lesson plans that need writing, papers that need graded, emails that need responses, and other things that I always think just HAVE to be done at the time.

As I entered into this, my 31st year, I also found myself thinking about and agonizing over whether I should go ahead and retire at the end of this year. After all, there are bills that will go on.... cars that will need repairs.... and one more child who still has 2 years of college and college debt.

As I read this passage I realized two things:

1. I need to create a more balanced use of my time. I need to allow myself to take personal time for my family and for myself. I have allowed myself to get off kilter- devoting too much time to work and being serious. I need to stop beating myself up over taking a bit of time to read a book, go out to eat with my husband, or just sit and watch a television show.

2. I don't have to worry about how retirement will affect me or my finances. If it is time for me to retire, God will provide. He has blessed me with a talent for crafting, crocheting, and sewing. In the past couple of years, he has shown me that I can create things and sell thing to supplement my income. Retirement could provide the opportunity for me to finally go ahead and turn that into a full time side business that can help if my retirement money runs a bit short of the financial need. It could also allow me to do something else that the Lord has in mind for me. He led me into teaching and he can help me to figure out what his plans are for me after retirement.

Because of these realizations, I have decided that my word for 2016 is BALANCE.

As I read the Bible, study, journal, and pray, I am sure that God will help me to find the personal balance that my life so badly needs. As a reminder, I added a small drawing in my journaling Bible, along with a short prayer.

Evolving Update

Back in January I posted about my One Little Word for the year "evolve".

If you haven't read the post that started me on my journey for the year, you can check it out HERE

I thought it was time for me to give you a bit of an update. It is also my way of making myself accountable for actually making some progress.

1. I have decided to embrace my hair color--- not the one that I have been using to cover the ever-growing amount of gray. I am talking about my own personal hair color, INCLUDING the gray. I have not colored my hair since January 21. I have been growing it out and haven't had a trim either. (I really do need to schedule one, but I am kind of liking having a bit more length.)
2. I am reading a book about finding happiness and I am trying to make a definitive effort to find and keep my happiness and my smile more evident on a daily basis. You can read more about that in THIS POST. You can also follow along with my weekly posts about the "triggers" that we can all use to help increase our happiness level.
3. In my effort to give to others I have been trying to do more "little things" to help others: paying library fines for students, dropping off goodies at the local traffic department to thank them for their hard work this winter, opening more doors for others, and just making time to be there when people need me.
4. I have also kept a promise that I made to my children a VERY LONG time ago. Before my husband and I married I made a cross stitch stocking for him. I had been promising my children that I would also make one for them. I actually started them several years ago, but I had never found the time to actually finish the stitching and assemble them. I promised myself that THIS would be the year. I am happy to say that I have kept that promise!

Now we just have to wait until Christmas to hang them!

I wish I had some good news to report about my weight loss, but it is holding pretty steady. I just can't seem to give up some of the foods that I really enjoy and I haven't found time to add exercise into my daily routine. I am NOT giving up though!

One Little Word....

A couple of years ago I was introduced to the concept of selecting a single word for the coming year. It was meant to be a way to help you focus on one particular aspect of your life that you wanted to change or refine..... kind of a new take on resolutions, I suppose.

Anyway, at the time I selected the word "reduce" and it worked. I took the year to focus on reducing my stress and reducing the size of my waistline. I was able to achieve both.

Last year, I didn't really join in. I just kind of drifted through the year........ living.

As I prepared to enter 2014, I wanted to once again join in the One Little Word movement, but I really wasn't very sure of the word to choose. I have spent the last week or so thinking about it and trying to decide what the one little thing would be for me for the upcoming twelve months. Finally, it came to me.....

My word for 2014 is.......

Allow me to take a minute to explain my word choice...

In looking over my life in recent years and what I wanted for the future I kept seeing a variety of elements of my life that I wanted to change. At the root of all of them was a change in ME.

I have reached that milestone age- 50. This year I will become an empty nester, as both of my children go off to college. Glenn has (semi) retired and is rediscovering his love for music, singing, and community service. I think the time has come for me to begin my own personal evolution.

I need to rediscover the things about me and about life that I love and use those to help shape my future. I need to allow myself to make changes and grow as a person... though I know that some of those changes will be difficult.

I looked up the definition of the word evolve and saw that it was "to undergo gradual change; to develop". That is exactly what I hope to accomplish this year.. I want to EVOLVE as a woman, a wife, a mother, and a human being and to allow myself to stumble a bit as I do so.  I want to take my time.... to explore just who I am at this stage in my life.... to rediscover the things that make me uniquely me... to develop into an even better version of me