Yes to this, no to that

As I’ve done for the past few years, I’ve spent the past few weeks praying and thinking about my word of the year for 2021.  Having a word for the year provides a central ‘theme’, an intention to go back to over and over again over the next 365 days. Last year, my word was ‘BOLD’.  Throughout the year I could go back to this word as we faced uncertainty and disruptions, big life decisions and how I tried to approach each day.  What happens over time is that this theme becomes so engrained in you that it unconsciously becomes part of who you are.  We start out needing to consciously remind ourselves what our intentions are, and then they slowly become our preferred ‘norm’.

Before I go any further into this post, I should highlight upfront that my word for 2021 is inspired by someone very special to me who teaches me daily by how she lives with unwavering faith and always, always puts her family first in everything she does.  We were driving out to lunch this time last year, chatting about our words for 2020.  She explained that her word was ‘CHOICES’.  She wanted to focus her year around making healthy choices for herself and her family.

So often, we get caught up in the busyness of our lives and don’t pay much attention to the choices we make. Did you know that, on average, we make about 35 000 remotely conscious choices per day?  Press snooze, or get out of bed?  Smoothie or eggs?  Podcast or playlist?  Workout or not?  Pray about your decision or dive straight in?  Salad or burger?  Write down the pros and cons or just go with your gut?  Forgive or hold a grudge?  Dwell in the complications and what went wrong or look for the good?  Talk to your children about their day or scroll mindlessly through Instagram?  Thousands of choices.  Literally thousands.  How many of the important decisions do you make with your full attention?  How many of these are made with thought of the bigger picture, your values, your goals, who and what matters to you?

For 2021, I want to make healthy choices for my family and myself, to foster a home that is overflowing with love and time together and to protect the boundaries we’ve put in place to invest in what matters to us.  Everything in our lives is a reflection of the choices we’ve made.  Many times I’ve felt discontent, distracted by something that doesn’t feel right in my life.  When I unpack the restlessness, it always comes down to choices I’ve made without considering the ripple effect and it reveals something that needs to change.  If we want different results, we need to make different choices! Each choice we make means we are saying yes to one thing and no to something else.  When you say yes to that new opportunity at work, what are you saying no to?  When you say yes to another weekend commitment, what are you saying no to?  When you say yes to another party invitation, what are you saying no to?

Where we are a year from now will reflect the choices we make now.  Make them count!