one little word

Source: sundayinbed.tumblr.com via Gioconda on Pinterest

it's the start of a new year.  that means resolutions are on everyone's mind.  we all make them in some way or another.  some last all year and some never see the light of february.

i used to make them. but now i choose a word that i want to focus on throughout the year.  this will be my sixth year choosing a word. and what a difference it has made in my life.

2007 - resolve
2008 - gratitude
2009 - time
2010 - focus
2011 - happy

it's a concept that is all over the inter web.  but i read about it on ali's blog all those years ago.  she even has a class that i've taken that is a monthly reminder to live your word.

last year i chose happy as my one little word.  how did it go?  amazing.  i learned so much about choosing happiness over waiting for it to happen to me.  that quote at the top is as simple as it gets. this word was all about living in the moment and not worrying about the what if's.  something that i work on all the time. i truly felt like this year i smiled more, laughed more, felt true joy in my heart.

so i will carry happiness with me as i move into 2013.

every year i wait for my word to come to me.  i'd hear something and jot it down.  i would see the same word over and over and it would stick.  the word that was present over the last few months was "brave."  i started pinning quotes and letting the word settle.  then i was reading a post by brene brown about her new book, "daring greatly".  that took me to a quote that she references and i knew that "brave" was not my word, "dare" was.

here's the quote i read:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” —Theodore Roosevelt 

i had to ask myself the question "do i dare?"  i live a safe and comfortable life.  i like the known and fear the unknown.  i don't take chances.  maybe it's time that i do.  i'm ready for an adventure.  for  something different.

i have plans to truly live my word.  i am taking the olw class again this year and am so excited to see what happens.  and i will dare myself to try things, to accomplish things and to finish things.  and then i will dare you to try them.

so... dare #1
choose a word.  simple as that.  find a word you connect with.  think about where you want to be at the end of 2013.  do you want to be more balanced, calmer, more focused or more brave.  take a look at this list of words that people have chosen.  which one says something to you.  choose a word and see what happens. i dare you.

in 2013 i will dare myself in many ways.  no more thinking about it, planning for or waiting to be ready.  no, it's time to get it done.  and even if i fail, i will fail while daring greatly.