Four words are better than one.

Have You Picked Your Focus Word for 2020?

Four words are better than one. A new twist for a new year.

Let’s face it, resolutions at the new year usually don’t work. They inevitably die by the first of February. This truth lead me in 2012 to adopt a single word on January 1st to be a guide for the following twelve months. The word was to be my theme for the year, chosen based on something I desired in my life. Something I wanted to be more of or better at or achieve.

But similar to a resolution, a single word and all its intentions faded before the calendar ended. I believe in the value of choosing a focus word. There were benefits the first few months that came about in unexpected ways. But I lost momentum.

Our lives are fluid, always changing. We get off balance. We lose heart and get off-course. Choosing just the one word to sustain the entire year was unrealistic for me. So in 2019, I did it a little different.

I chose four words throughout the year instead. I had no inkling it would impact and enhance my life in such positive ways. This is the story of how that happened.

In January 2019 I didn’t agonize over one word for the entire year. Instead I focused on just one word for a few months until I felt I had reached its goal.

During that time, I had devoted entirely too much attention on political matters. I was divided and angry, heavy and burdened. My heart and soul was torn in two. So when I saw the word “Unity” on a community advertisement, I knew I had found my word. What would serve me well to strive toward.

I clipped out the word and glued it to a rock as a solid (as a rock) reminder of my chosen focus.

I carried the rock in my purse and sometimes in the cup holder of my car. I sat it on my desk, in the windowsill, and in my rock garden. I took a photo so I’d see it on my camera roll.

After a few months of reminders and reflection, I found my attention drawn from divisiveness and vitriol toward acceptance and tolerance. Patience and kindness. I found my unity.

With unity, I rediscovered writing. It was spring and as the flowers blossomed, so did my desire…