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| Happy pic by my brother, Kai |
I’ve never really been into New Year’s resolutions. They’re too much pressure and I think they tend to make us look at what’s wrong in our lives instead of what’s right. Over the past couple of years, some of my friends have opted instead to choose a word that encapsulates what they want to achieve, experience and feel throughout the year. Superstar coach Christine Kane described the concept well on her blog several years ago and for the past couple of weeks, her readers have written great posts on the words they’ve chosen for 2011.
Yesterday, when I mentioned on Twitter that I was contemplating my word for the year, I immediately heard back from fellow tweeps who have already chosen theirs. Liz is going with shine. Missy is ready to soar. Lisa chose plethora (as in “a plethora of good health, good luck and joy”). Jenny‘s thinking hers will start with “h” – hope, health, healing, happiness. All great words! All great ways to be!
Choosing my word was harder than I expected. Like Goldilocks, I wanted it to be just right. It feels like I have a giant year ahead of me. And I really want to maintain that excitement and have it grow by leaps and bounds. When I envision the year ahead, my ideal is feeling totally bowled over by my wonderful life. I want to feel amazed by how my book is received when it’s released in October. I want to be in awe of my kids’ growth and development. I want to feel happy about how much quality time I have with my family – time for laughter and playing and new adventures. I want to be totally thrilled by the progress and health outlook for several family members facing medical challenges this year. I want to feel great pride and relief as I (easily!) release more weight. I want to feel elated about the way my art career unfolds and how new opportunities arrive out of the blue. And so…after careful consideration…my word for the year is OVERJOYED.
And as soon as that word jumped into my head and heart, I realized “Overjoyed” is also one of my favorite songs by Christine Kane (yep, she doubles as an accomplished singer-songwriter). I found the lyrics and they couldn’t be more perfect:
So here it’s New Year’s Eve again
And everything keeps changing
I raise my glass and toast the Gods
In charge of rearranging
All of the world is designed to remind you
All of the light you could find is inside
Under all of the noise
What’s it like to be overjoyed?
Word.
.
