One Word 2016

There's so much that goes on to get a year started! I have goals to share, my one little word, my racing plans and calendar...so. much. good. stuff! And when I have all that good stuff, I tend to let my brain get overwhelmed and then just stick my head in the sand and don't share a darn thing. HA! But I realized once I put some brain power into it (what do you know...that actually works) I realized that there was a logical order to the sharing and the first thing is my One Word for this year because that word has informed everything else seeing how its my focus for the year. Makes sense, no?

So let me give you a little background. Back in 2010 my bestie, Rebecca, presented this idea to me that she had heard about of picking a word to be your intention for the entire year. We both really liked the concept and totally ran with it. I picked Peace and she picked Joy. And whoa...if we had known how powerful having a single word could be I don't know that we would have done it! Well, at the very least we both agreed later that we would have been more cautious in choosing. LOL Because we both went through a pretty crazy journey that year and our words were very prominent in that journey. I'm kind of glad we didn't know though because that's the way it SHOULD be...kind of the purpose right? At any rate, by the end of the year we were sold! And we've been doing it together ever since. If you want more information about this, just Google One Little Word (Ali Edwards has registered that one) or One Word Resolution and you'll find all kinds of info about it. I don't know who created the concept originally but whoever it was is brilliant! My words have been:

2010: Peace
2011: Quality (how my little blog got its name!)
2012: Strong (I did the Ali Edwards One Little Word(r) workshop that year - it's amazing - she's amazing!)
2013: Light
2014: Courage (the year I ran my marathon!)
2015: Now

So enough with the history, let's get to 2016's word, shall we? My word for 2016 is: GROW

I usually start thinking about my word for the next year in November and this year was no different. And I usually have lots of different words that bubble up to the surface. Some I even think are really going to be it, but then I roll it around in my brain a little and sometimes the bubble pops and I realize that its' not THE word yet. This year I was doing a lot of reflecting on 2015 because as I mentioned when I was wrapping up my year of NOW, it was a pretty rough year. It ended great and had a strong fourth quarter. But that first 3/4 of the year really took me for a ride. I was thinking about how it really felt like I had been tilling the hard ground with little to no progress, but then I finally got past the hard bedrock, and added enough water to soften it up, that there was finally a breakthrough and some seeds could be planted in fertile ground. I think you probably see where this is going...haha Several words bloomed from there - like nurture, cultivate, blossom but they still weren't quite right and I knew it. And then while driving in the car to work there it was...grow. And it felt so right. So I held onto it nice and tight to see if it would pop, but it didn't. And as I started thinking about what it meant and shared it with my bestie, it definitely became the word for 2016.

It means that seeds planted in 2015 are going to grow this year. I want to grow as a person in so many different ways and I want to continue to grow in my marriage and relationships. I want to nurture and water my soul and pull the weeds that will try to choke my little seeds that are already beginning to search out the sunshine. I'm sure I will also continue to plant seeds that will grow in 2016...new seeds that I don't even know are there yet!

I'm looking forward to spending a year focusing on everything "grow" means to me! I want to see my life bloom and blossom and just be a riot of colors and fragrances that I can't even possibly imagine right now! I want to have an abundance of goodness ready to harvest throughout the year that will sustain me, my family, and all those around me! It's going to an awesome year!!