word of the year

Have you ever set a word of the year? A word that resonates with you that you want to use to set a tone for your year. I’ve never done this before, but I’m experimenting with the idea this year. Will you join me?

Why choose a word of the year?

Selecting a word of the year is different from making a resolution. It’s more of a focus. A mindset. Guide. Filter. It’s something to come back to when you need to feel grounded or be reminded of what’s important to you. It can serve as a motivation for trying something new or stretching yourself. I like this idea, and that’s why I’ve decided to implement a word of the year. It might be fun!

Possibilities for a word of the year:

• Would you like it to be about intentions? If so, some ideas might be balance, mindful, alignment, or authenticity.
• Should it reflect your faith? If so, consider faith, peace, joy, love, hope, thanksgiving, trust, grace, surrender, or abide.
• Perhaps you’d be more interested in applications. If so, think about action, purpose, growth, resilience, strength, courage, celebrate, or adventure.

What ideas do you have? Please comment with your suggestions.

My word of the year: CULTIVATE

I chose this word because it makes me think of growth and of being intentional about that growth. It’s a broad and versatile word; I can look at it in myriad ways. What do I want to cultivate? Hope, peace, joy, mindfulness, calm, friendship, new interests, goodness, gratitude, and strength. I’d like to grow in all of these areas, and others as well. Maybe it’s too broad, but I can always try something different down the road. What works for you?

What will this look like?

Let’s take a brief look at a few of the areas I’d like to cultivate. I foresee some future blog posts. 🙂

Joy

I am thinking of joy as a fruit of the Spirit, and I hope to cultivate joy in that sense. There are numerous Bible verses focusing on joy, and that would be a great place to start. I can choose a different verse every few days to ponder. Write it down. Journal a bit. Reflect. Maybe do a creative lettering activity around the concept. Of course, there are other aspects of joy. Making an effort to look at every situation through a lens of joy would be helpful: What is something good that came out of this? How did I grow? What did I learn? Can I use this to help someone else? What is the silver lining? These types of questions will improve my outlook and foster a sense of joy.

Peace

My approach here will be similar to how I cultivate joy. Peace is also a fruit of the Spirit, and there are plenty of related Bible verses. In what other ways could I cultivate peace? There are healthy habits I could set that would be steps in the right direction:

• Make sure I pause before reacting. Take several deep breaths. Don’t rush.
• Begin and end the day with quiet reflection. Seek out new perspectives.
• Incorporate regular time for enjoying nature into my routine. Observe.
• Spend time stretching. Finally develop a yoga practice. I’ve been wanting to do that for a while!

Friendship

It’s so easy to take friends for granted. I’m terrible about taking the initiative. I am always receptive when friends reach out to me, but I’m not so good about taking that first step. It’s something I’ve been working on. I pray for my friends regularly, but it’s important to let them know I’m thinking of them. Check in and see how they’re doing. Plan a time to get together or even just connect with a text, email, or phone call.

If a friend is struggling, there are a variety of concrete ways to show support.

Cultivating friendship is also about making new friends. Has someone new moved in near you? Have you noticed a visitor at church? Maybe there’s a community group or book club you could join. We’ll find opportunitites if we look for them.

Mindfulness

I’ve already worked on this one! Honestly, I was thinking about CULTIVATE as my word of the year when I wrote my blog post about mindful living strategies. I included ten different strategies in that article. If the idea resonates with you, check it out.

Have you settled on a word of the year? What inspires you?

I’ve written several posts around the word CULTIVATE. Read them for more information.

Other posts you may like:

• cultivate hospitality
• cultivate authenticity
• cultivate connection
• cultivate compassion
• cultivate hope: a biblical perspective
• book club list: a year of excellent reading
• praying for your community: a prayer “walk” around town
• homemade spiced cocoa mix

Fondly,

Crysti