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Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

December 31, 2013

The One Word I want to live this year

Yesterday I recapped my first OneWord365 experience, a year of releasing and letting go.

A month or so ago, I started thinking about my next One Word. What did I want to experience, live and be challenged by in 2014?

My soul settled on the word “enjoy.”

That sounds lovely, right? And on the surface, that might seem like not so much of a challenge.

But it is.

See, for several years now, I’ve not really been enjoying my life. I’ve been tolerating and surviving and plodding through to the next thing. Which is why “release” was so important to me this year. I was carrying a bunch of baggage in my heart, soul and mind.

Now that I’m free-er, I find myself in a season of goodness.

I love the house we’re living in. Our lives are full of good friends and supportive community through our church and this new city we’ve moved to. For the first time in years I can say “life is good” and mean it. It’s not perfect, of course, but it’s so incredibly different than the past five years that I almost don’t believe it’s true.

So, for the coming year I want to enjoy. I want to trust in God’s goodness and not worry about the future. I want to live as though we’re going to be here for a long time instead of being constantly on the lookout for our next move, our next house, our next job.

I want to play with my kids and say “yes” more often to the fun things instead of being bogged down in the drudgery of chores and “have-to.” I want to “want to.”

I’m already scaling back the number of books I’m going to review on my blog because I want to enjoy reading and not feel obligated to read. I’m weaning myself from my coffee habit so I can enjoy a cup of coffee for the pleasure of it instead of feeling like I need to have it to survive.

And these are just the beginning stages. If 2013 was any indication, I have no idea what God has planned for my year when it comes to “enjoying.”

I’ll post throughout the year about what I’m learning and experiencing along the way. I’d love for you to follow along and share your stories, too.

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And if you haven’t signed up with the OneWord365 community, there’s still time! Choosing one word for a year is the most effective change I’ve experienced for an entire year. I’d encourage you to give it a try.

Filed Under: One Word 365 Tagged With: change, new year's resolutions, oneword365

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dr. Kelly Flanagan says

    December 31, 2013 at 9:36 am

    I LOVE your word for this year, Lisa. It definitely feels like a soul word.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Where joy and pleasure meet | Living Echoes says:
    January 20, 2014 at 7:00 am

    […] Which is part of the reason my OneWord for this year is enjoy. […]

    Reply
  2. When the picture isn’t complete (and that’s okay) | Living Echoes says:
    January 28, 2014 at 1:36 pm

    […] this hobby I sort of start and stop and then start again. This time, it was part of my plan to enjoy life more. Because January brought with it the return of two of our favorite TV shows–Downton […]

    Reply
  3. How to enjoy life {not that I’m an expert} | Living Echoes says:
    April 8, 2014 at 10:21 am

    […] ago, as I was considering the word that would define my year, one word settled in my soul. After a year of releasing things and people and feelings and stories, […]

    Reply
  4. The surprising word that sums up our vacation | Living Echoes says:
    July 31, 2014 at 7:00 am

    […] From the splashing in the water to the digging our toes in the sand to the climbing the lighthouse steps to the date night with tasty seafood to the shared meals around the kitchen table to the late-night talks to the overall ambiance of this historical seaside resort, I enjoyed our vacation. (And if you need to know why it’s so hard for me to enjoy life, read this post.) […]

    Reply
  5. How I’m finding the me I didn’t know was lost | Living Echoes says:
    June 23, 2015 at 10:41 am

    […] I see the theme in a lot of places. And those previous years of “release” and “enjoy” were important. But this year is becoming transformational in a way I couldn’t […]

    Reply

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Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

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