01/02/2023
It’s been 10 years since I started picking a word for the year. I don’t do well with resolutions. As a type 1, I am all or nothing…and I usually end up on the “nothing” end of my resolutions and then beat myself up relentlessly for failing to keep them.
Words are directional. They are more flexible and forgiving. They help me stay focused on my “why” and help me make decisions about what I should commit my time and energy to that year. They help me remember that each new year is a new season. My kids are not the same. The world is not the same. I am not the same. So how will I learn and grow and serve in this current season?
The word that has been humming in my spirit for months now is “Grounded.” It’s like everything within me has been crying out to be connected to the earth, to the natural order and rhythms God has woven into his perfect design.
For me, this means putting down roots.
My mother-in-law, years ago, gave me a bundle of pencils that had four words stamped on them, “Bloom where you’re planted.”At the time, I’m sure I was full of young energy and wonderlust and a strong Type 1 sense of dissatisfaction. Nowadays, I want to spend my time connecting to those who are closest to me in proximity. As the world is getting bigger and more accessible, I am making my world smaller. I want to be rooted and connected in deep and meaningful ways to the community that I live in.
Secondly, it means living a life of natural rhythms. For years I functioned at break-neck speeds: overworked, over-committed, exhausted. I moved into each new season carrying with me all the expectations and responsibilities from the season before. I barely slept because if I wasn’t working, I was thinking of all the work that needed to be done, and trust me, it was never done. My schedule ran me instead of the other way around. And so, being “Grounded” means living within the boundaries of my 24 hrs, and my limited energy. Focusing more on quality over quantity, and building routines into my everyday life.
Lastly, I will embrace each season nature has to offer, each season of parenting, each season in my marriage. I will embrace the light that nature has given me to work and play, and the darkness it has given me for rest and reflection and relaxation. I will find delight in the beauty of a winter snowfall and icicles on the trees, and in the crispy coolness of Fall, and in the bursting forth of life and color in Spring; and I will bathe in the warmth of sunny summer days. I will not long for days gone by or better days to come, but will live fully in the present day.
Grounded. Connected. Thankful.
What about you?