Several years ago, I was introduced to the concept of selecting a word of focus for the year instead of creating a list of resolutions. It has been life altering. Instead of creating a list of goals I want to accomplish, I create a mindset to carry with me in all aspects of my life. This serves me in many ways. I remind myself regularly to focus my mindset and use my “Word of the Year” to guide my thoughts and actions.

The first year I selected a word I had just relocated from my hometown to a new community with no network of friends, church family or a job. We had moved in September of 2017 and as the new year approached I was feeling scared and lonely. As I read about this concept of approaching the year with a focused word, I opted to dive in. What did I have to lose and being in a new community, no-one would be the wiser. I selected the word BRAVE. I needed to be brave in meeting new people, finding a church home and embarking on a new career . I was partially successful. I had been offered a position in a new industry and while it was exciting it was also intimidating. Starting something new in my fifties was scary, in my training class I discovered I was not the only 50+ person starting over in their careers. As we moved into October of 2018, depression had set in. I found an out and ran away. My sister offered me the opportunity to escape back home for a few weeks and I bolted. Leaving my new career (which I enjoyed tremendously) and burned a bridge I have regretted tremendously.

As the new year was approaching and I realized how truly unhappy I was, I selected JOY as my new word. I was determined that I was not going to stay depressed and set about doing things that brought me JOY. I reconnected with family and old friends who lived around the country, started a card ministry which spread JOY to others. I started a new job in another new career and learned to be happy where I was and with the new life we were creating in our new community. By the end of 2019 I had changed jobs (again) I had been hired in a field I was familiar with in a position I was not familiar with which allowed me to learn and grow and that ultimately brings me joy.

My new career position provided me with an opportunity to BLOOM in my career and was my selected word of the new year. I felt God was asking me to bloom where I was planted and I was all too happy to dig deeper and do my best to make it happen. Work kept me so busy in 2020 I didn’t have much time to bloom in other areas of my life. As we approached the next year I knew I was going to continue to bloom and was tempted to repeat my word for another year.

After careful contemplation I decided to DISCOVER more about myself, my community and my people in 2021. BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE! I reached out to my sister and asked her to be my accountability partner in a Bible study that would have us read through the Bible in a year. She accepted! We discovered a friendship and sisterhood that continues to flourish and grow. I returned to school which fed that love for learning and I discovered it was not to late to accomplish a dream. As I continued to discover myself I realized I had unresolved hurts, hangups and habits that needed to be addressed.

An easy choice for 2022 was the word RELEASE. I needed to release some long held hurts and unhealthy relationships and set about finding opportunities to grow in new directions. I found help from a supprt group offered by the Catholic Church. As a protestant, I was concerned it would be too weird or overwhelming or I wouldn’t fit in (all the insecurities presented themselves). I knew that if God had brought me to it, He would see me through it. I developed such an amazing peace from working with the women in my support group. We were connected by deep hurts and working through them openly and honestly brought more peace to my soul than I have felt in a really long time. My sister and I continued our Bible study which also helped me in releasing my fears and hurts.

So here we are in 2023 and I had narrowed my Word of the Year to 4 choices: Focus, Simplicity, Trust and Invest. I was leaning heavily toward Invest and was discussing it with my daughter on New Years Eve, when she said she thought Discipline might be what I was looking for. I decided to contemplate this change in direction. She was right in that I would like to have more discipline in my lfe. January 1st came and went with me still undecided. THEN, on January 2nd I flipped the page on a new calendar I had received from a dear friend and the message for the day said, “Persevere with Feisty Faith – May you make up your mind to persevere and not quit. May you refuse to be bullied by your fears or diminshed by your insecurities. May you rise up in the knowledge that God made a masterpiece when He made you! May you embrace grace to abound in every good work in spite of enemy opposition. Overwhelming victory belongs to you because you belong to Him. Walk with feisty faith today! He’s got you.” The word EMBRACE hit my heart and I was clear that this was my word.

In 2023, I will EMBRACE all of the parts of my life, my faith and my friends & family. I will continue to be brave, find joy, bloom where God plants me, discover new opportunities, release what no longer serves me and embrace all that He sends my way. May God bless you and yours as we start this new year.