The Word

For a couple of years now, I've chosen a word to focus on in the New Year. I use it mainly as a way to ground myself. Remind myself of what is important to me that year. It isn't necessarily a resolution; although I guess it could be.

Thanks to my friends CraftyP and Suzy; along with scrap celeb Ali Edwards, I remembered I hadn't chosen one yet for 2009. My word in 2007 was breathe. At that point in my life, I needed to remember that breath was important to my well-being. I also needed to remember to take a minute, breathe, calm myself down first, and then deal with the stressor at hand. It turned out to be a fairly positive thing for me. In fact, I still stop myself and remind myself to breathe first.

In 2008, I chose ME! I'm not so sure I was able to put myself front and center like I'd wanted to, but I did manage to do more for me than I have in the past. So, while not a resounding "success", I'm happy I did it.

This year's word is one I think I really need to focus on this year. It's going to be a very busy and potentially stressful year for me. I need to complete 15 graduate credits before January 2010. Ya. I'm not looking forward to it (mainly because I'm lazy and don't want to do anything!). We're also working on getting a more sizeable Emergency Fund stashed away and like always, there's something that pops up and derails us from time to time. It's easy to be frustrated and just entirely give up. And then, there's that ever present desire to not look like a blob in my clothing. To quote my innocent daughter "Mommy, you'd be really pretty if you were skinny". When I countered with "So, you don't think I'm pretty because I'm fat?", she replied with "No, Mommy! You're pretty; but you'd be even more pretty!" So while that was really hard to hear; it's not untrue.

I have a habit of starting something all gung-ho and then letting my motivation slide and slip and not give whatever I'm doing my 100% effort. In order to remember that I need to keep going; keep trying, keep moving on, my word for 2009 is:

Persevere

I can do it. Yes, I can!