In a Word

For the last couple of years, I've eschewed resolutions and instead have chosen a word to guide my year.  What I really need is something to come back to during the year -- all year.  An idea more than an action. Something simple, but sturdy.  Something to get me out of my tangles -- not create more.  A re-grounding, a re-centering.

So, 2014, you are about Beginnings.

A friend and I were talking about parenting recently, and she said, "Beginnings are hard."  We hadn't been talking about something that I'd even seen the "beginning" in, and it stuck with me.  When something is hard: is there a beginning in there that I have to catch up to?

I started seeing beginnings.  Other kinds of beginnings.  Some are big and profound and observable by everyone.  But, maybe even more importantly, there are lots of little beginnings.  So many are small, subtle, overlooked, invisible.  These beginnings give us the chance to choose -- if we can see them.

A beginning can be as simple as a deep breath or a new sun rising outside our window.  It can also be as complicated as forging a new path through the brambles.  But, what if even these beginnings are just series of the the deep-breath, sun out your window beginnings?

We live old patterns.  We play out old dramas.  We forget to update our files.
We stop seeing what's really in front of us.  We get caught up.  We stumble and trip over the past tangled around our ankles.

If we can remember to see beginnings, to use beginnings, to explore the possibilities, to notice where the old script has been set in motion but no longer applies, we get a fresh start.  We can use all that we really have at our disposal -- today, in this moment.

Beginnings give us more options.  They say, "Start here."

If you have a word for 2014, please consider sharing it in the comments!  I'd love to know about your journey through 2014!