One of the things I most look forward to about a new calendar year is choosing a new word to focus on. I’ve been following Ali Edwards’ inspiration of choosing one word to guide my year since 2008.

Here are my past words:

2008 – Create

2009 – Learn

2010 – Do

2011 – Healthy

2012 – Nourish

2013 – Refresh & Renew (a phrase instead of a word)

2014 - Forward

2015 - Focus

2016 - Progress

2017 - Complete

2018 - Ready

and now I’m excited to add my word for 2019…

Story. That’s my word for the year and I already feel it making a difference for me. There are so many ways this word can guide me and I’m really going to work hard to make it a part of my daily life.

• My story. I have a story that is unique and interesting. Actually, I have many stories worth telling. I want to write down my stories and share them.

• The stories of our family. I am the storyteller for my family. Through pictures and words I am the one that compiles our lives into a shareable format. I want to put a BIG emphasis on this and tell our stories. Also, share our stories so the family members know them and know where to find them.

• Sometimes we tell ourselves the wrong story. We have a story that we tell in our minds that prevents us from moving on. Or maybe from accepting ourselves or others.

• Read more stories. I love the written word.

• Listen to and learn from other people’s stories. Everybody has something of value in their story.

• Research more about the stories of my ancestors and find ways to share those with others.

• Make the word story visually prominent in my life to remind me of this year-long journey.

Have you chosen a word? I personally love this tradition and look forward to it each year.