Around this time every year, people start choosing their “words” for 2017. I’ve done it, too…last year was my Year of the Crash. The year before was my Year of the Brave. 

This year, I wanted to make things simple. Do you ever feel like you set out to do “all the things” and then get overwhelmed? (You might try my List of Now printable from last year! It might help!) As I was thinking about a specific word and praying about what my focus would be for this year, I discovered something uh-mazing.

The word WORD is an acrostic for what I’d like to do this year (the acrostic must be an English teacher thing). But specifically, these are things I want to make happen every day of the next 365 days.

Because ANY day could be my last day, I need to make EVERY day my best day. That means LIVING that way. I believe these four goals will point me in the right direction.

• W – Write. I am working on my nonfiction manifesto – an invitation for YOU ALL to join me on the best day ever adventure. I want to WRITE EVERYDAY, even if it is just one or two words (um, but hopefully more than that). My goal is to finish, publish, and have the book available by late spring/early summer. I canNOT wait to share it with you!
• O – Outside. I find great joy in the outdoors, breathing in fresh air, appreciating creation. I want to make sure I am outside (even for just a few minutes) every, single day.
• R – Read. This is a big one. I am currently buried in the 15 books I got for Christmas (I looooove smelling the new book smell). I’m dabbling in Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Reading Challenge, but my actual goal is to read something every day (at least 100 words).
• D – Devotion & Prayer. I’m going to daily commit myself to the most important part – my spiritual self – which affects and is connected to every other part of my life. I recently read an amazing quote by a popular TED speaker:

We’re always being told, rightly, to tend to our forests and to clean up our air, but we’re less often reminded to try to protect the wild spaces inside our imaginations (where the future will get made) or to clean up the skies in our souls (where toxins can be more poisonous than any external pollution). Even as we’re so proud of filling our bodies with locally sourced, farm-to-table, organic food, we fill our minds with junk.

By filling my mind with goodness – with scripture, with prayer, with  devotion, I am protecting the spaces of my mind, filling my soul with Jesus, and getting rid of the junk. And I need to do this regularly. Daily.

I got a super cool Moleskin (obsessed with journals!) for Christmas, and I will be chronicling my journey through my WORD, all the writing words, reading words, inspired words from outside, and the Words of God.

Recently I’ve been reading a lot about the Danish custom/word/action (it is all of the above) of hygge (pronounced hoo-GAH). Crazy enough, the Oxford Dictionary named hygge as one of its words of 2016! There are countless definitions, but in essence, Hyggehouse defines it as…

…a feeling or mood that comes from taking genuine pleasure in making ordinary, every day moments more meaningful, beautiful or special.

As we think toward 2017, adopting the art of making ordinary, every day moments more meaningful, beautiful, or special sounds like a good idea. I’m not sure I would employ all the customs of hygge…after all, I’m not Danish that I know of (I AM adopted, my friends!). But I want to live a life that doesn’t miss the moments. Every day is the best day ever. And every day, I’m offered a plate. I can’t choose what happens, but I CAN choose how I respond.

Bring it, 2017. I’m ready for you.

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What’s YOUR WORD for 2017? I’d love to read about it in the comments…

My most popular posts of 2016:

10 reasons you don’t need a boyfriend (or girlfriend) in high school

teachupsidedown: 50 brain breaks to engage ALL students in the classroom

The first (soon to be annual) Wisehart Christmas card/blog is HERE.