One Little Word

Words…

They’re powerful.

They bring on emotions and feelings:

     *love & hate

     *happiness & sadness

     *inspiration & encouragement

There are thousands and thousands of words out there but I chose one, just One Little Word, to be my inspiration and encouragement for 2015.  Choosing my OLW wasn’t easy, but I truly don’t think I chose it.  My OLW actually chose me.  You see 2014 brought on a lot of changes and probably the biggest change was my daughter going away to college.  After eighteen years of having her by my side, all of sudden she was gone!  Not really gone, you know what I mean, but she wasn’t right by my side anymore.  Heck, she wasn’t even in the same town anymore.  She was miles and miles away!

Gone were the trips to Target.

Gone were the XC meets in the fall.

Gone were family breakfasts and dinners.

Gone were the quick escapades to the mall.

Gone were the evenings of just hanging out at home.

Gone! Gone! Gone!

You gotta love my family and friends though.  They would ask me how I was doing and I would share that I was fine. Just getting use to the house that was even more quiet now.  Truth be told, I was secretly hoping they wouldn’t hear the ping of emptiness in my heart.  I would get up in the morning and my day always seemed to have the same ho-hum routine. It was something like this:

• Eat breakfast
• Pack lunches
• Take care of our furry friends
• Go to work
• Collaborate with colleagues
• Teach my students
• Go home
• Run-4 miles, 5 miles, 6 miles 🙂
• Make dinner (Okay, maybe I really didn’t make dinner & those of you who know me well know what I mean!)
• Clean up the house
• Take care of our furry friends
• Read
• Sleep
• Repeat

Needless to say, I found myself in a rut and pondering what my purpose was. So, what did I do?  Well, I made a list because I love to make lists, really I do! 🙂 And, that list making, well it really put my purpose into perspective.  I stumbled upon that list when I was searching for my OLW and, voila, just like that my OLW for 2015 found me.  Drum roll, please!

My OLW for 2015 is:

My OLW for 2015

Good-bye to those ho-hum days of 2014.  Now when I find myself in that rut I will subtly remind myself of my OLW.

My purpose to be a good mother even though my daughter is away at school.

My purpose to be a good wife, family member, and friend.

My purpose to be an athlete and continue to run and exercise.

My purpose to be the best teacher I can be.

My purpose to continue to read and enrich my life through the written words of others.

My purpose to love and care for our furry friends.

Want to find out more about OLW?  Then check out the book or watch this quick video from YouTube. (And thanks to THE WRIGHT STUFF for sharing the video too!)

If you do have One Little Word please share!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

🙂