Word of the Year 2022
Welcome, friends, to another new year. I hope it finds you healthy and happy.
In this, my fifth year of replacing the resolution with a guiding word for the year, I choose ‘do’. Two simple letters; three simple points (if I were playing scrabble).
If my ever-growing list of things that need to be done are ever going to be checked off the list, I’m going to have to actually start with the doing.
It really takes a leap of faith for me to just do some things without looking at all angles to see if what I’m going to do will take care of the problem without making more work.
So I procrastinate.
As I began my year of ‘do’, I realized that I have been paralyzed for almost ten years. Doing what needed to be done to get by, but not having the heart to do much more (unless it was outdoors!).
My mother died almost ten years ago.
Coincidence?
I think not.
Two years later, not having worked all the way through my mom’s death, my dad died.
A little over a year ago, my oldest brother died.
Somewhere between my father and my brother, my husband had three surgeries.
We lost three pets.
I retired from a job of twenty-three years.
This last year has been the hardest.
Last year, after my brother’s death, I chose the word ‘breathe’.
It was what I needed after having the wind knocked out of me.
But this is the year of doing.
I think it’s what I need now to heal.
To retain my sanity.
The sense of accomplishment makes me feel really good.
Our time here is for love and work and thankfulness and joy.
Our time here needs to honor those we’ve loved and lost.
Grieving needs to be transformed into something more helpful.
Whether in the silence of working alone, or in the companionship of working with my husband who shares my loss, I am finding a better way to work through my grief.
Using my grieving energy, I am slowly ‘do’ing my way back towards life.
As my list gets smaller, my mind becomes clearer.
I will take my ‘do’ attitude with me throughout the year and see what goodness it brings me.
~~~
If you were to chose a word for this year, what would it be?
Join our community
Subscribe to get our latest content by email.
Happy New Year my friend. May God bestow many blessings on you and your family this year of 2022. I love your word “DO”. I understand the grieving process and how things and life pile up for years and eventually we turn that page and DO whatever needs to be done to declutter. Grieving is so important. You and I both have had several major losses in our lives the last 10 years. But DO will at least get you started on whatever your lists says DO. Take one day at time my friend. You got this. My word is Healthier. I know what comes to mind is the old resolution everyone makes to lose weight at the beginning of every year. Since I had my second knee replaced and turned 60, the years of bad habits have caused lots of weight gain. Thank goodness, all my blood work is great. I have no issues at all and no major blood pressure issues. I am foregoing the diet word and using the word healthier. It does not only apply to losing weight, but a change in my everyday diet, amount of food intake, taking care of my spiritual and emotional needs, and making better choices daily. Healthier also includes adding exercise to my life daily in some form or another. I have been walking and exercising since I had my knee surgery and have lost about 20 pounds. Yay!!!! Hahaha! It took years to add this weight on and I know it will take a lifetime of healthier choices to lose weight and feel better in general. I am on my way. I fail on some days with my late night carbo load of a bowl of popcorn or cerea or salty crunchy crackers. But that is okay. Part of being healthier is also not to beat yourself up over some bad choices. I just have to refocus the next day and move forward. So healthier is my choice word this year. Good luck with your DO and I will remain vigilant with my word healthier. Take care my friend. Love you.
Susan
Susan, I think you picked a really good word. Our words have that little something in common: making better choices daily. That’s what the word of the year is all about. Choosing a word to use for focusing your choices. So far, DO has served me well and I hope HEALTHIER takes you exactly where you want to be! Good luck in this New Year that we are so blessed to be living in! I wish you and your family joyful blessings in this new year! Love you…c
I have thought long and hard about this year’s word. I feel I have been standing at a crossroad for quite a while, afraid to take a step in any direction. I lack confidence in my decisions. So maybe I need to go with the word ‘beginning’. It seems I am on the cusp of a whole new chapter in my life, a chapter that will not begin until I take that first step. Or maybe I should go with ‘clarity’, needing to clarify what my aspirations are so that I can take that first step. I guess I am still undecided, but I know I need to do something soon. Wish me luck cause I will surely need it. I love you Sis!
That’s exactly why I picked ‘DO’. My other words seemed to give me time to sort and label, characterize and understand, but I feel like I was spinning my wheels. I needed this past year to breathe and now I’m ready to do.
I will wish you luck on whatever you choose. I hope you won’t need it, though. I’m behind you 100%. If there is anything I can help you with, just call (or text, or message!).
Step across that threshold, dear sister. Or as they say, jump in. The water is fine! Love you loads! ❤
Carol & Lou – I surely can relate! From the reading I’ve done about the scourge of alcohol addiction and its affect on the family, I discovered that my distaste for planning (anything) is a hold- or left-over from growing up in an alcohol sated family group, intermittently through my growing up years. It was more than a bit of revelation to find that out about myself. Of course in between the sloth planning, were times that necessitated the big DO! Such as – sending myself or one of my kids to have a grand visit with my mom: they got a whole summer; me? A few weeks. One time, I extended to three weeks after my mom’s second husband died. They lived in Southern California, and their two side by side single garages were chock full of STUFF. Their washing machine was outside the kitchen door, so in between the great clean out, there were twenty-one loads of wash done. Running out of hanging space? Drape on whatever was handy! Chairs, fence, bushes and the neighbor Ella Mae’s clothes lines too. One of the big moving boxes which ostensibly was the bottom of a wardrobe? Held a Happy Third birthday card to my brother with three Mercury dimes inside. The year of the great unearthing was 1978. My brother was born 9 Nov 1943 in Los Angeles. The age of the card wasn’t such a surprise, but the fact the dimes were actually still present? That was a surprise. Thanks for the memories! Judy 🦋
Wow! That was a real boon! Finding those dimes there after all those years. You’re very welcome for the memories, and thank you for sharing them! ❤❤❤