This will be my fifth year with the One Little Word project.
I first read about this from Ali Edwards blog. She encouraged me to pick a word that would be a guiding force for the year.
My first word, in 2008, was Create.
I loved that word. For that year, I was ALL about creating. I created new experiences for my baby Kylie. I created a lot of love with Karen. I created a loving home in Portland. I created tons of scrapbook pages. I created lots of knitted projects. It was a fantastic word that truly motivated me throughout the year.
My second word, in 2009, was Choose.
This was an interesting word for me. The thought behind it was that life with Kylie was so encompassing that all lot of other things were starting to slip. Like my health/fitness. Like our finances. Like anything that wasn't Elmo-related. It was easier to go about the day-to-day stuff and not think nor work on the bigger goals. So picking the word "choose" was like a light slap on my cheeks encouraging myself to wake up and start working on my life. I was partly successful. But my memory of the word "choose" was that it wasn't much fun.
My third word, in 2010, was Steer.
"Steer" was "choose" on steroids.
I did steer my family to our new home in FL. I did steer my but to the gym and steered my attention to our budget. But "steer" was heavy in responsibility. It was my least favorite word of all three.
My fourth word, in 2011, was Triathlete.
For the entire year, I ran. I learned to bike. I learned to swim. The process was fear-filled yet exhilarating. And I fell in love with the training. I believe that in a non-competitive sense, I did become a triathlete. I have a long way to go before I feel ready to compete in a triathlon. I hope to do a triathlon the summer of 2012. So I'm still hanging on to this word. And I'll still be sharing my triathlon journey with you on this blog.
But I want to do more than just train for a triathlon in 2012. After a lot of thought, I chose CULTIVATE as my 2012 word. Or as Becky Higgins writes on her blog: Cultivate a good life and record it. I fell in love with this phrase. So when it was time to pick my word, I knew that cultivate would be the word for me.
You can read more about the One Little Word project here. And for inspiration, you can see Ali's list of words here.
If you've picked a word for the year, please share it with us!
3 comments:
I am so glad to read this post!! Your post on the same topic last year got me to participate in the OLWP (my 1st word was "strengthen") and I can't wait to jump on board this year! Cultivate -- great choice!!!!
Last year was my first year doing One Little Word. My word was balance. I'm still undecided for this year--cultivate is actually one of the two I'm considering. I'm pondering until Friday and then making my final decision.
good luck with ur marathon. i rarely comment but have been reading for years! i love ur one little words.....and this year i also participated. my partner has been recently diagnosed with stage iv colon cancer metastasized to liver. shes undergone major colon surgery chemotherapy and major life threatening liver surgery on her way to more chemo. she's ok....we are THANKFUL! everyone around us has rallied and carried us through even when we could not see past the tears. they have been generous with their love, time, generousity, thoughts and prayers. our word is THANKFUL.......for another day, month, moment, holiday, birthday, hug from our children......135 days ago when she was diagnosed we werent going to have any of that......THANKFUL!
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