I’ve been thinking about a “word of the year” for the past several days. Nothing was really sticking.
I toyed with the idea of appreciation – to focus on what I have in front of me, appreciate my life for what it is etc. But after a day or two, of rolling around in my brain, it wasn’t taking hold.
Last night I was talking with my husband about it and said “Oh well, I’m sure something will come to me.”
And then it did.
It’s not sexy. It doesn’t scream meaning, but, in fact, it represents every aspect of my life
My word of 2017 is TIME.
As I thought about all the things I wanted to do more of, focus on, be better at…this word kept coming up. I’m always worried that there’s not enough of it, that I’m not doing what I should with it. It’s a constant. It’s not stopping. It’s what I make of it that counts.
So throughout this year, I want to be mindful of my time.
Time with friends and family
The kids – My kids are growing up. I try to pretend it’s not happening, but it’s true. When I’m with them, I want to make sure I’m truly with them – not thinking about work, not playing around on my phone. They’ve turned into two truly fascinating little people and I don’t want to miss a thing.
The husband – Every year I vow to do more date nights with my husband and this year will be no different. Time with him is important. Our marriage is important and we need the occasional reminder to focus on just US.
The grandparents – I am about to enter my 40th year of life on this earth (I turn 39 on Weds) and I still have three living grandparents. I realize how fortunate this makes me and I need to make the most of our time together.
The mom and sister – My sister gets married in April, so these next few months will be a whirlwind of activity – showers, bachelorette party, dress shopping etc.
The friends – As I type this, I took a break to schedule a brunch for this coming Sunday. Better start somewhere! With a full-time job and kids in elementary school, it gets harder and harder to actually see my friends. I have to be purposeful about planning get togethers and it’s going to remain a priority for this year.
Time for Work/Blog
I am finally in a good routine for work. I created an efficient system for making sure everything gets done each day. Where I’m failing is this poor, little blog. I have all these big ideas for it and they fall by the wayside. What that means, I guess, is that it’s not a priority. I want it to be, but time (ahem) is limited each day and somehow this blog rarely makes the list. I’m not ready to throw in the towel. I love my tiny slice of the Internet. For 2017, I hope to post at least twice a week. Something is better than nothing right?
Time for ME
So…since I started working in August, that would mean that I stopped going to the gym in August. Whoops. I say it’s due to lack of time, but we all know that’s not true. Again, if it was a priority, I would make time. Well, I need to make it a priority, because I. AM. A. PRIORITY. A healthy mom is a better mom. A healthy wife is a better wife. Etc. Etc.
I know it’s cliche to put fitness on your New Year’s Goal list, but for me, it’s the truth. I’ve fallen off the wagon and I know I’ll feel better if I climb back on.
Time Management
All of these “goals” mean nothing if I’m not intentional with my time, if I’m not aware of how I spend it. This means less futzing around on the Internet. Looking back, I can’t believe how much time I’ve wasted on Facebook, Instagram etc. It’s easy to do when you spend your day on the Internet, but it can easily get out of hand. I need to do what I came to do and then log off. This is why I have books unread and projects unfinished. Phooey on me.
Let’s Go
Today is the last day of the holiday. We have absolutely NOTHING that needs to get done today, so I’m going to take that TIME to do some of the things on this list. I’m going to read. I’m going to play Barbies with Miss E. I’m going to drink coffee and enjoy having no schedule because tomorrow it’s back to the routine.
There’s a lot of unknown surrounding 2017, but I’m going in with a positive outlook. It’s my last year in my 30s and I have some things I want to accomplish (that’s another post entirely). Time to get started.
I am with you in this! I have a good feeling about 2017. Yes I do.
LOVE it! I went with “enough” this year . . .as in, I am good enough, I have enough, there is enough time, enough money, enough space, etc.
I love enough. I wrote a post about being enough a few years back.
Love this. It was my word a few years ago and was perfectly fitting for that year in my life! Use it well!
Great word! I need to have better time management as well, and though I think I’m fairly disciplined, I’m sure I could use my time more effectively.