Word-of-the-Year (CHANGE)

There it is….my word for 2010.

Change.

As I mentioned before, in preparation for choosing my word for 2010 I printed out a list and kept checking it for something to pop out at me. So many of the words grabbed my attention as I skimmed down the list. Each one in its own way pleading for me to choose it. I came up with rationales for most of them. Pretty much the only one that was easy to dismiss was ACTION…because I had already spent a year tossing it around. The others held promise. They teased me with the opportunities they might offer. I couldn’t decide. Typical.

Each day I eagerly awaited the new posting on Christine Kane’s blog. Hoping that one of the chosen words of her guest writers would strike a cord with me and help me to climb out of my indecision. I smiled to myself in disbelief when someone posted that her word chose HER.  Ha…I thought. If only that would happen to me. How cool would it be to see the sign so clearly. To know that a word was right. That it deserved a whole year devoted to it.

Then amazingly enough, over the next few days MY word appeared to me…repeatedly. It followed me around like a puppy dog wanting attention. It first emerged when I discovered someone copying my designs and descriptions in my Etsy shop. My initial thought was to be mad. Then I decided to make some CHANGEs in my shop instead. Next I was feeling sluggish and irritable after eating so many holiday sweets (and candy from the jar in my office!). Instead of accepting that it was just part of the season I decided to CHANGE my eating habits. As Christmas grew closer and stress started to build faster than my enthusiasm for the holiday, it once again occurred to me that I could CHANGE my expectations and do Christmas on my terms. As the days passed it seemed like every time someone said the word CHANGE or it appeared in print it jumped out at me like a neon billboard.

Finally I said OK….I get it! The decision had been made. But then I started to wonder if I would be setting myself up for the wrong kind of change. What if I focused on CHANGE and things changed for the worse? You know, as in be careful what you wish for. After all, change can be scary. Change can be uncomfortable. Change can make a person feel vulnerable. Yeah, change can definitely swing both ways.

But, here it is. January 1. And my word is CHANGE. I can see so much potential in the word that I’m willing to take the gamble. I feel empowered already!

Oh…by the way. I couldn’t remember what word the person who said ‘her word chose her’ had picked. So I went back to the blog tonight and checked.  It was CHANGE.  :)