It's the beginning of a new year. As in years past, this shift in the calendar brings up an exercise that I've been doing for several years now. I choose one word to be my word of the year.
What's in a Word?
In previous years I've chosen the words Inspire, Focus, Mindfulness, and Balance. As I've mentioned before, it's not an easy task to take all of your aspirations and goals for an entire year and condense it down into one word. As I go through the process of choosing my word I find that I go through different words. Testing each one to see how it feels and whether I think it's one that can last me for the entire year.
This is more than just a word. It's my focus for the year. At regular points throughout the year I check-in with myself to see how I'm doing and if what I'm doing is on-track with my intentions for the word I've chosen. The more years I do this the more I realize that there's a bit of a challenge involved. This year I was tempted to choose a word that I had chosen before. It felt comfortable and, if the truth be told, simpler. But when I sat with the word and really thought about it I realized that I didn't want simple. I wanted the word to represent growth and to be the basis of making a difference.
This Year's Word
The word that I've chosen this year is Change. It feel like a pretty powerful one.
According to the dictionary definition:
Why Change?
So why did I choose this particular word? Well, when I stopped to think about it I realized that it really resonates with me on a number of different levels. The first being, admittedly, the impact on my life after Hurricane Harvey. This has brought about a rather large amount of change. From my housing situation to my office to choices in my daily life. A lot of things have changed. And this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. And it requires me being open to change on a lot of different levels. Something that most of us don't really like to do. I confess I'm no exception.
When I thought about it a little further I realized that I have a mission for change. My Big Hairy Audacious Goal is to support and educate others to make informed decisions about the food they buy so we can change the paradigm of food production in this country. Slowly but surely it's working. As more people learn about what's really in and on their food, they demand better. In turn, this can and has caused a change in the larger marketplace. We now have a number of major food producers meeting the demands of consumers; removing harmful ingredients and changing their manufacturing processes.
Thirdly, going deeper, I realized I am an agent of change. I am a holistic nutrition professional who helps people find food-based solutions to support chronic health issues. By supporting, mentoring, and encouraging others I give them the tools and information they need to make changes. This, in turn, can have a positive impact (a change) on their nutritional plan and their health. The change comes from within. From my clients and followers making conscious decisions and following through on them. It's powerful and rewarding stuff to see everything that they are doing and I am grateful to be a part of that.
So for better or worse, change is the word of the year. I'm excited to see what lies ahead. I hope you'll join me in chosing a word of your own to create a one word focus for the year.
