My Word for the Year

I know I said I was done. I know I bowed out, so this is officially not part of the bloggy war...unless Alice and Rookie say otherwise.

I needed to do something grown-up today. After living in a household of small people who all have Influenza Type A...myself included (except I am NOT all that small), I needed to indulge myself with something that required me to not wipe its nose or administer medication.

Many bloggers, including one of my blog war rivals, have chosen a "word for the year", a word that you contemplate each day, a word that you "apply to your life in a way that will make a difference."

I have been thinking about this for almost three weeks. Each day I would ponder a new word. Some lucky word out there would be my all-encompassing, descriptive word. I toyed with a new one every day. One day it was "compassionate", the next it was "content" and the next "calm"...none felt more important than the other. Each word was something I needed to fit into my life. How was I supposed to choose which one I could think about when my day-to-day situations were different? Nothing encompassed what I expected from myself.

I was looking through some stitchery patterns and came across my "be's" by President Hinckley. I may be plagiarizing by choosing "BE" as my word, but "BE" was the victor.

The very definition of "BE" is "to occupy a place or location". Which is what each of the words I contemplated needed to be doing...to take up space in my life.

My own personal "be's", you can find the originals here.

-Be balanced. I once saw a wheel that had sections of what your life should occupy. Spiritual, Family, Self, Work, Recreation, Education. I need to reevaluate what my priorities are and what my own personal wheel should look like.

-Be hopeful...I have a tendency to see worse case scenario. How wonderful would it be to have a "Pollyanna" attitude.

-Be content...I have a beautiful life. It isn't perfect, but that doesn't make it any less valuable. I may not have the best of everything or all of my wants met, but my needs are. At the end of the day, does it really matter what brand of pants my kids are wearing or that they have pants to wear in the first place.

-Be better. I have a laundry list of items that I can be better at. Friend, mom, wife, daughter, sister, listener, writer, artist, creator, driver, mime (just seeing if you are paying attention), etc.

-Be kind. In my words and my thoughts and my deeds.

-Be calm. I want to be THAT woman. The woman who maintains her composure regardless of her situation.

-Be humble. Sometimes in conversation, I talk too much about myself. I worry that pride gets in my way. My bloggy is a forum for that part of my life. Humility is a trait I really want for myself.

-Be willing. I want to be happy to do those little things. Volunteering at my daughter's school, be the first to offer to take dinner to someone in need, be willing to play with my daughters, willing to try something new with my husband.

-Be happy. Self-explanatory.

-Be compassionate. Yet again, self explanatory.

-Be enough. I want who I am to be enough for me. All of the aforementioned words are great, however if I don't feel that I am a good person or a daughter of God, then none of them are enough. I need to know that I am enough.

The first month of the year is coming to a close, so please, think about what you want to fill your own life. What is it that you want to focus on as the year progresses? We forget so quickly the resolutions and goals that we make for ourselves, let us pose this question to ourselves one more time before we let the year run away from us.