The Word of the Year

Before the beginning of 2011, I picked a word to emulate throughout the year. It was super easy because I knew I would need to remind myself daily of the goodness of my word. 2011's word was "change," and boy, did we ever need that word! It was an excellent reminder to keep positive about any changes we encountered, no matter how scary they were at the time.

The biggest change for us was preparing to turn the two of us into a family by welcoming a wee one. Yes, "change" is the perfect word to describe how we wanted to approach it: from a practical standpoint about something that would be just a little different than what we were used to. Kirk always reminds me that change is the savor of life, and I wholeheartedly agree with him. That little word added a lot of flavor this year to our family.

However, "change" didn't only apply to our personal lives. Both of us got new jobs this year, made some progress in our education goals, and were reassigned different callings. 2010 was feeling a little stagnant for me, so I wanted to pick something to encourage myself to try new things, not be afraid to risk my comfort, and to bask in all the goodness that can come from doing things just a little bit differently.

Well, this most recent Word of the Year was so successful for me that I decided to pick another one this year. I hope it becomes an annual tradition for me. After weeks of deliberation, the word I finally landed on for 2012 is..."savor."

In 2012, I want to focus on savoring every moment, relishing the blessings we have, and enjoying with all my soul the relationships in my life that are most important.

What do you think? Would you ever pick a word to focus on for the whole year?