My ‘One Little Word’ for 2018
Have you heard of One Little Word? I came across it two years ago from listening to the Elise Joy podcast. Elise and Ali Edwards have a yearly conversation about their One Little Word, and it is always very interesting to listen to. You can find this year’s conversation here. If you are curious about One Little Word, I recommend listening to it. It’s a quick listen, and she links to a bunch of resources in her show notes for you to explore further.
The basic premise is that you pick a guiding word for the year. In my mind, it is like picking a theme that you use to guide you and your year.
I have never actually done it before. Last year I thought about a word but nothing really stood out to me, and then I pretty much forgot about it. As I’ve been thinking about this year, though, I’ve been thinking about how it would be nice to have a word to guide my goals and resolutions so they are a bit more cohesive.
For whatever reason, the word that has stuck out to me is DIG—as in Dig In, Dig Up, Dig Out. I particularly liked these definitions…
1) Break up & move earth with hands, a tool, or machine
2) Push, poke, prod, jab, or shove
3) Excavate
4) Bring out something hidden or stored
5) Search or rummage for
So, what do I want to dig into or dig up in 2018? Well, here’s what I’ve been thinking about…
Dig into my relationship with God—
I’ve been thinking about the concept of abiding with God, particularly in the day-to-day things of life, and I want to spend some time reading verses from the Bible about that.
I also can easily get caught up in anger, anxiety, impatience, and general discontentment that swirls around in my heart. I’ve been thinking about this verse from 1 Peter 3:3–4—”Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” The part about the gentle and quiet spirit really stands out to me. I want to explore what that would look. I would like to read, “Keep a Quiet Heart” by Elisabeth Elliot to facilitate some more thoughts about that.
Dig / prod / poke / shove myself to live a more active lifestyle—
After the baby comes, consistently do my kettle bell workouts (which I had started before I was pregnant and really enjoyed).
Say “yes” to going for walks and playing outside with Finn.
Generally be more proactive about doing activities with Finn, especially ones that get us moving.
Part of this will involve digging up some bad lifestyle habits of choosing laziness, eating poorly, etc.
Dig into being a mom to two kids—
I have no idea what this will look like, but I definitely want to leave room that it will be a transition. It’s just been Finn and I home for the last 3 years, so having a newborn is going to be quite a change. Plus, Finn will start preschool two days a week in the fall.
Dig out my painting skills and prioritize time painting regularly—
Rather than trying to learn a new creative hobby, I would like to dig out my painting skills and dust them off a bit. I haven’t painted in years. It’s definitely going to take some creative muscle stretching, but I think I’d like to start by painting some florals and landscapes. It will be a much looser style than I’ve done previously, and I’m feeling excited and inspired to try it out. I think I’m going to buy this desk easel and a pack of canvases so I don’t have an excuse to keep me from jumping right in.
My one resolution, which doesn’t really fit into the categories above, is to take better care of my skin. Primarily, this means washing my face and applying moisturizer at night and regularly wearing sunscreen. I’m pretty much the worst about washing my face when I’m tired and it’s cold and the water is going to take forever to heat up. But, it’s such an easy thing to do and takes very little effort in the grand scheme of things.
Do you make resolutions? Is there anything you are trying to focus on in 2018?
