In a Word

~For just when ideas fail, a word comes in to save the situation.~

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Over the past few years – or more – I’ve read about people choosing a “word” for their upcoming year. It becomes sort of their mantra, or resolution for that year. Crafty sorts make scrapbook pages around their word, or signs or pillows or temporary tattoos....  I always thought it was kind of - - well, silly, I guess. 

But a  few weeks ago I began thinking about how I’ve felt like 2010 somehow got away from me, and I began reading on blogs and emails some other peoples’ words: Believe, Give, Laugh, Patience, Inspire, Grace….  I began to see some value in having a “word”, a reminder of what I might want to achieve or be or whatever for the coming year.  And, I decided that I, too, would pick a word for 2011.


Soooo, here it is the last day of 2010, and I am still trying to decide on “my word” . I kept coming back to “Be Aware” – but that’s two words, AND it looks too much like BEWARE, and I don’t want to start out 2011 THAT paranoid. 

“Focus” seemed close – but, good grief, I’ve been saying that to myself for YEARS, and really, it isn’t quite "it". I want to BE AWARE of God’s presence in my life. I want to Be AWARE of my husband’s needs, my children’s fears, my friend’s concerns. I want to BE AWARE of how I am spending my time, my thoughts and my energy. For me, being aware will move me to action.  See where I’m going here?

~The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~

Mark Twain          

Since I knew I wanted to write about this today, this morning I decided to cheat a little and look up “Be Aware” in my thesaurus (That’s such a funny, dinosaur-looking word, isn’t it? Sorry, I know – FOCUS!)

Here is the list of words that came up when I typed in Be Aware:

Absorb


Grasp


Clutch


Grapple


Get


Realize


Understand


Comprehend


Discern


Receive


Learn


YES, YES, YES! All of the above! The final kicker for me - the thesaurus told me that the opposite word was IGNORE! OHHHH….So, as is typical for me, I’m going against the norm and having a Word Compilation. Since my word can't be "Opposite of Ignore", together this word list makes up My Word.  I do like to make things complicated, don't I?

...Perhaps my word just should have been… DECIDE.

Do you have a word for 2011?

~I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying. ~

Oscar Wilde