I'm not great at making and keeping New Year's Resolutions. I have lots of things I'd like to improve upon, but I think about them all year round, not just in January. That's why I love the concept of a Word of the Year: pick a word that embodies what you want to focus on, and set goals around that word.
Last year, I chose the word HOME. I would say I had varying success with that. I wanted to focus more on making my home a sanctuary, and focusing on my family and children was a priority as well. Taking a much-needed blog break was part of that. However, I'm not sure I adopted the habits and patterns I wanted to in other areas (like cleaning, hah!). As I thought about where I fell short and where I'd like to continue to focus, different words started to stay in my mind.
I've thought about dieting and working out to lose some unwanted weight. But I always tell myself "Wait for Monday so I can start fresh." Or "After my birthday, since I know I'm just going to eat junk then anyway."
Why not start now? Even in the middle of the day, I can refuse that sweet, turn away from the XL soda, or make a better choice for lunch.
I've drifted away from my spirituality. Oh, I go to church and pray when I can. But I've let some of my other habits slide, such as deep scripture study and more personal prayer. I don't have to wait until Sunday to make a change. I can start working on changing NOW.
I'm often not very patient with my kids. I tend to sigh loudly and roll my eyes when I have to search for a shoe the tenth time that week, or when I have to nag them to clean up at night. I know there are better ways to handle my stress and annoyance, but yelling or laying guilt trips on them are the "easy" choice. I lie awake at night, reviewing my day, knowing I need to change but don't know how to start.
I can start NOW. I can, just for one day, refuse to roll my eyes, not yell at my kids, count to 10 before I speak. I can pick something and make that change NOW.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf said "There is something hopeful about the word 'now'. There is something empowering about the fact that if we choose to decide now, we can move forward at this very moment."
Doesn't that sound wonderful? Who doesn't want to move forward?
So, in the spirit of "now", there's something I'd like to add to my blog this year. Last year I read the book Deliberate Motherhood, and I really wanted to take the challenge to focus on a different topic each month. Well, of course, I never did. This year, I'm going to do it, and to keep me accountable, I'm going to blog about it.
There are 12 "Powers" of deliberate mothers, one for each month. For January, I'm going to be focusing on the power of "Acceptance". To learn more, come back Friday where I'll go more into depth on why acceptance is important as a mother and how it will help you and me. I'm not sure how much I'll write about my journey each month, but I will write about it each month. If you'd like to join the journey with me and work on becoming a better mother, you can order your copy here. (There's even a Kindle version if you prefer an e-reader!) And I promise, this is not sponsored in any way- this is just something I want to do.
So, what's your Word of the Year? I'd love to hear it, or read your post about it. Best wishes for a Happy New Year!
