My 2014 Word of the Year

Have you ever heard of “Word of the Year?” It’s a neat practice designed to replace new year’s resolutions with one simple word to focus on for the year. I’ve chosen a word of the year since 2014, and it’s always neat to see how my word shows up in my life each year. In this blog post, I’m sharing the word I chose for 2014, and what I learned from it!

It was the end of 2013, and I had been through a really hard season. Hormone imbalances had wreaked havoc on my body, and depression left me feeling drained and joyless. One day while chatting with my Mom, she mentioned something called “One Word,” and how you choose a guiding word instead of creating a list of resolutions. I had never been into “resolutions”, but the thought of choosing a word to help guide me through the new year sounded… exciting. And I hadn’t felt that excited in awhile.

I plugged in our hotspot and opened up my laptop. A quick google search later, and I was hooked. I began thinking about what word I might choose for the New Year — after all, it was just a few days away! Within a few minutes, the word “LIVE” popped into my head. It was a clear as day, almost like I heard someone say it beside me.

It sounded good, but I wanted to think about it for awhile. Over the next few days, it became abundantly clear that “Live” was my word for the year. Everywhere I went, I began to hear that word. I flipped on the radio and heard songs like Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying.” I got on Pinterest and saw quotes about living well. After the year I had just experienced, I really did need to learn how to live again.