One Little Word 2014

It is that time of the year again when I can choose ONE little word that will drive me and my focus for the year.  Although I did not blog about my word much last year, I can honestly say that it was always on in the background.  My word waited to be called or needed.  Whenever there was cause, my word came out, took me by the hand, and led me to focus.

How could I not grasp for ONE little word this year?

My word didn’t take that much time or effort for me to choose.  In fact, I didn’t find it.  My word found me.  It was obvious.  It was waiting for me to pick up and put to work.

My word.  My ONE little word.  ”BALANCE”

Why?  Many reasons.  It fits.

Balance.

I tend to give all or next to nothing to a personal cause…or at least that is how it seemed to be last year.  I would be all in, or procrastinate.  Like moderation, balance was missing from my world.  I gained weight, let myself get caught up in worries about my profession and about the world at large, I did little writing, and I did a whole lot of nothing important while having so many projects that I not only wanted to get to and complete…but would have enjoyed them all.

Balance.

My change.  My movement toward balance is pretty obvious for me.  I need to find balance within and outside of myself.  I need to spread myself more evenly.  Not too thin, but evenly across what is important to me at this moment.  The t areas are My Writing, My Health, My Professional world, My Relationships, My fun projects, and My Peace.

Balance.

My writing needs to move from the back seat and find a part of my routine.  I am routine oriented, so one would think that this is an easy one.  NOT.  My writing will have purpose and a time slot of priority in my life this year.  It needs to become more of a habit than an event.

My health always suffers at the hands of my scheduleand my emotions.  Step one is not to allow my emotions to get in the way of anything, especially my health.  My eating habits and most importantly, my exercise needs to be a hunger for me as it was just a few years ago.

My professional world has so many aspects to it right now.  This includes my writing.  This includes my learning.  At this time, I have decided to simply enjoy the ride of my progress and create a trustworthy process to keep me growing while being in the moment with my own reflections and my students.

My relationships.  Even though I work with my wife and she is my best friend, we do not spend enough time, at all, just begin witheach other as a couple…or as one.  Because we share the same passions, sometimes the passions become our focus and not US.  That needs to change with balance.  Also, friends.  I have spent less and less time with friends…old and new…in the past few years.  I need friends and their differing perspectives on things.

My fun projects include building things out of wood, building or making things that only have meaning to me, cooking, and even cleaning.  I need to create.  I also need to get back into music whether it is a JAM session with the guys or something more regular.  I have moved away from so many hobbies including fishing, canoeing, and even camping.  Maybe there dis some room for that in my balance equation?

Finally, I need to balance in my own Peace.  Call it Zen, religion, or Native meditations…there needs to be My Peace.  In many ways, I think this is the foundation needed for my focus on balance.

Like anything else similar to this, there will be great times and accidentally vacations from my focus.  This is NOT a New Years resolution.  This is a quiet song playing in the back of my mind nudging me to where I need to and want to be.

Let’s see how it goes.  It all starts right now.

Peace.  Mark