2016 Word(s) of the Year

 

As we move into 2016, I've been doing a lot of soul searching. Is life going the way I want it to? Am I happy with what is going on and/or the decisions I have made? I stop and think about resolutions and the short list I gave you recently - and while those goals are still goals, I was inspired recently to have a different mindset for the new year. In one of the classes I co-teach, the other teacher had the kids reflect on their 2015 and then think about what they would like to happen and be true during 2016. They were then asked to come up with one word to be their WORD OF THE YEAR.

As the teachers, we came up with our own words to be our motivation and the word I initially chose was CELEBRATION. And by that I mean, celebrate the little things, the moments, and most importantly the people in my life. Celebrate every day to be alive and happy, and do not focus on the negative things that may be happening around or to me. This will be a great step to improving not only my mental health, but my physical health as well as all of my diagnosed diseases are stress related.

But, wait... there are two words up there...

I know, I know... one word should be enough, I suppose, but when we were talking about The Great Gatsby in class, this word came up and I felt inspired. That's enough for me to know that I needed to focus on two words rather than just one. RISE. Rise can be used as a noun OR a verb, but in this case I mean it to reflect the idea of rising up or rising above. To rise above circumstances, diseases, and problems and GROW from them. To rise in my career, in my relationships... in everything.

I'm hopeful that by focusing on these words rather than specific resolutions that 2016 will be the best year yet! Happy New Year!