#OneWord2019

#OneWord2019. I’m sure that you have seen the social media posts swirling over the past few days. Many years ago, I embraced the #OneWord challenge. I traded lists of New Years Resolutions for a word that would serve as a lens through which to make decisions: how I spend my daily hours, set personal and professional long-term goals, and interact with those that I love the most.

Previous #OneWords include Fearless (2014), Move (2015), Simplify (2016), Intentional (2017), and Cultivate (2018). As I reflect, I realize that – each year – my word made a significant impact on my personal growth during that trip around the sun.

Each year, I wait patiently for the word to find me – in a quote, in a song, or in a book that I am reading, or in a conversation. With only hours before this year’s chapter closes, I had started to worry that my word had not emerged. Friends were sharing their incredible #OneWord choices: Relentless (Laura), Present (Erin), Dissonance (Don), Grow (Kristi), Relationships (Kimberly), Impact (Debbie), Metanoia (Jessica), and Speak (Heather). Aren’t these amazing selections?

I pondered. I researched. I thought. I reflected.

And, finally, it hit me.

My #OneWord2019 will be EMBRACE.

You see, life is a journey. Over the past year, it would have been impossible for me to imagine, on January 1, what the rest of 2018 would reveal.
2018 was a year of change. Our family survived parenting two high school teenagers with driver’s licenses, athletic schedules, jobs, and a myriad of college-level courses. My job continued to provide opportunities to grow as an educator and instructional coach. Personally and professionally, my faith was tested. In each adventure, I faced challenges, took risks, enjoyed successes and failures, and grew… oh my goodness, I grew.

Yet, throughout the year, I was so focused on the goal, the deadline, or the due date for the assignment, that I frequently missed the beauty of the journey. This year, I vow to change that: to embrace the journey.

Life is messy. Life is chaotic. Life is unpredictable.

Life is challenging. Life is unfair. Life is hard.

Life is beautiful.

Life is uncertain.

In 2019, I will embrace that uncertainty.
I will embrace the challenges as opportunities to grow.
I will embrace the changes as opportunities to learn new things.
I will embrace the journey for it may not happen again.
I will embrace every ounce of beauty along the way.

And, many years from now, I will name this chapter of my life.

#OneWord2019 Embrace