My 2020 Word of the Year

Every year for the last 8 or 9 years, I have chosen a word of the year. It's always interesting to me to see how the word I've chosen each year has helped guide me in different ways! Some years my word has helped more than others. A few years ago, I chose the word brave, and it helped me in some tougher situations when I was feeling a lot of anxiety--I'd repeat to myself many times "I am brave". Some of my words of the year that made a big impact were: focus, simplify, trust and be. I can't remember all of them, honestly. Some years my words meant more than others...I probably should've written them down in a list somewhere, but I didn't, so maybe I'll even choose one of my words again in the future! ;)

For 2019, my word of the year was light. I focused on using light better in my photography, and since we were studying the New Testament in our church this year, I also wanted to focus on being a light to the world as Jesus Christ would have me be. I loved my word, and I feel it guided me a lot in things I did, said and observed! 

As each year begins to wind down, I start looking for a word for the next year. To find my word, I think about my goals, what I've learned or want to learn, who I want to be and where I want to be by this time next year. I look for a word that really sticks out to me, or one that I see over and over. While searching for my 2020 word, I kept seeing one word over and over. Joy.

At first I thought it was silly, it was the holidays after all, and of course it's a word I see a lot during the holidays. But for some reason this year, this word kept popping out more than normal. I thought, what? Really? Why is this word sticking out to me this year? I'm not sure why, maybe I need to be more optimistic, or find joy in the mundane or when I'm going through hard times. At any rate, I'm really excited to bring more joy into my life everyday! 

Every year, I find a quote that I really love to hang where I can see it to remind me of my word. This year I came across a talk given by the President of my church a few years ago. It says, "When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy." (-Russell M. Nelson)  I love that he reminds us to focus on the most important thing, and no matter what's going on in our lives, we can find true joy! All I have to say to that is, bring on the true joy! I'm excited to see how it will shape my 2020!

​Do you do a word of the year? If so, what is it? If not, well, get on it and try it out this year! :)