Man oh man.

I went upside down and all around over this post.

Every year I choose either a word or three words.  The idea is that the word or words will guide my thoughts and actions as I navigate through the upcoming year.  

Choosing the words is an interesting process. Usually, they just come to me and I know intuitively that they are the right ones.  There's a kind of clunk inside me when the word comes and I know it's the one that is meant to be.  Last year, I chose one word.  The year before, there were three. And the year before that, three as well.

This year I struggled to arrive at even one.  Nuttin, and I mean nuttin, was coming to me.  I thought of plenty of possibilities but none of them seemed right. No clunk was forthcoming.  

I thought about gratitude, because I am so freakin' grateful for my life and all the people in it (including you, dear reader), and I thought about freedom and I thought about service and I thought about happy and I thought of all kinds of other words that went in and out of my brain so fast they didn't make an impression.

And then, this morning, out of the blue, they came to me:

Aligned. Focused. Zealous.

Taken one at a time, we have:

Aligned.  I want my actions to be in alignment with my strongest held beliefs around creativity, spirituality, and how I spend my day, hour to hour, moment to moment.  I want to spend time writing every day, no matter what, and I want to keep up with my meditation practice and spiritual studies (both of which have been somewhat lacking lately).  I want to eat the kind of food that I know nourishes me, and move my body in ways that will make it feel good.  And most of all, I want to act in alignment with my highest and best self.  

Focused.  This is the key to a successful writing life.  Actually, I'm pretty sure its the key to a successful life, period.  Sometimes I'm really good at it.  Sometimes my brain is all over the place. Working in bursts helps me, does it help you? I set the timer for 30 minutes and in those 30 minutes all I do is writer, period.  But sometimes I resist even doing that.  Sigh.  I have a rebellious nature–and it sucks when I rebel against myself.  At any rate, I want me more focus this year.  I've got a gazillion projects I want to bring into the world.

Zealous.  I believe this is my new favorite word.  Here's the dictionary.com definition of the word: (adjective)ardently active, devoted, or diligent; full of, characterized by, or due to zeal. Synonyms: enthusiasic, eager,fervid, fervent, intense, passionate, warm. Antonyms: apathetic; lackadaisical. Now who among us would not want to be zealous?  I want to be zealous for my writing, for my leisure pursuits, for my family and friends, for my life.  And when I think about it, I pretty much am zealous for all those things–I just want to make sure my actions are in alignment with my zealotry.

Phew.  I made it.  And I am zealous for my three words!

What about you?  Do you choose a word or words for the new year?  If so, what might they be?

Photo by Daino_16.