Last year I took the world Faith as my One Little Word for the year. It seemed a great fit with my state of life an it really served me well throughout the year. Although I didn't blog or talk about my word Faith too much, I did focus on it internally and wanted to continue with one little word in 2012. This year's word is Action.
Chris tells me it's a strange word for me to pick because he rarely sees anyone full of more action than me. But I think it captures what I want to do in 2012 perfectly. I want to take certain actions this year - action consistent with me meeting my life goals. It's about taking more intentional actions. The four areas I am planning intentional action around are family, photos, fitness and finances. I have goals for each of these areas and plan to track my progress towards the goals but don't plan on sharing too much about my one little word on my blog this year. So this may or may not be the last you hear about my one little word for this year ;-)
I have a feeling that 2012 will be filled with fabulous adventures! Let the adventure begin!
I've been thinking of my theme for this year - Faith. Faith that all things are possible. Faith that I am exactly where I am supposed to be on my life journey. With a little over 7 weeks (yikes!) left in the year and with Thanksgiving coming up, my mind is spending some time reflecting on this year and I find myself often coming back to my theme of Faith.
I have to confess that there were parts of this year when I didn't always kept the faith. I wasn't sure that Emma would make as much progress as she has. I wasn't sure she would ever give a consistent Yes/No response. I wasn't sure she would participate in her new school program, that she wold make gains in her communication skills, or that she would figure out a way to walk in her KidWalk again after her growth spurt. I tried to keep the faith that she would make all these goals, I really tried, but sometimes my mind would just not stay on board. And I would worry. Of course I wouldn't let anyone know that I had anything but 100% confidence in Emma, but silently I sometimes felt a little bit of doubt and then I'd feel some guilt at my doubt. And then I'd notice a few new gray hairs and knew any worrying just wasn't a good idea ;-) and that I had to come up with a plan of action, because nothing comforts me better than a well composed plan of action!
It sometimes took the additional gray hair to remind myself that the theme I chose for this year is Faith and my plan of action was usually to practice it more, flex my Faith muscle so to speak. Over this year there were times when my faith was at a high and others when it was at a low. I think this is normal for me and actually think it's probably normal for most people.
I know that I've come a long way on my Faith journey this year. I rarely need to "borrow" faith from others these days. I spend most of my time believing that all things are possible and that I am spiritually and mindfully exactly where I am supposed to be on any given day. At this time of Thanksgiving, I have so very much for which I'm thankful. And I have Faith in what the future holds.
I know I've written a lot about how Emma really wants to move lately. Scoot, crawl, roll, walk. This what she is interested in. Communicating with us, not so much. Moving to get from one place to the other, sign her up! She is not deterred by how hard and how much work it is for her to move, she simply digs in and uses 110% of her energy to achieve her goal - movement. It's amazing to watch her and I get so inspired by it.
We've been using the KidWalk a lot lately. Inside, outside, on the deck, at PT. It's easy to know when Emma wants to walk - she either scoots over to the KidWalk and looks at me or when I start moving it near her she squeals with delight. When she doesn't want to walk, she will resist getting on the seat and we know she isn't interested. But, mostly she wants to walk.
We've had the KidWalk since right before Thanksgiving. We selected it after trying several different gait trainers and this was the only one in which Emma actually moved her feet. I brought it home and we tried to show Emma how to use it to walk. We tested it with braces, without braces, on hard wood floors, on carpet, in quiet rooms, at birthday parties. Emma showed a huge desire for wanting to walk in it but most of the time she wound up in a position where she was sitting a bit back on the seat with her legs out in front of her and no way to get back into a standing position on her own. To help her be successful we would hold the KidWalk in the "sweet spot" with Emma standing upright and when she took steps we would help her move forward by assisting the forward movement of the KidWalk. I was beginning to wonder if she would learn to walk in the gait trainer on her own and if we selected the wrong gait trainer for her.
Then Emma got new DAFO braces. And she didn't really know how to walk in them. The new size braces, the new size shoes. You could see her mind working to figure out how to pick up her foot with the new constraints. It took her a while but she managed to pull it together and start moving her feet. This, along with the increased time in the KidWalk and her huge desire to move really seemed to make things click for her!
I'm beyond thrilled to see my little one taking reciprocal steps independently. She sometimes goes fast, sometimes slow. She gets caught in corners and walks into some walls. It makes me deliriously happy! My little girl is really starting to walk. Her first steps. Her first steps! So much more meaningful to me because of all she had to overcome to achieve this milestone.
I made a movie of her progress towards walking. Emma is just starting to explore her world on foot. We will help her build up stamina, learn to adjust to walking without so much tilt in the KidWalk (it can adjust to more upright positions), and take her out and about in it. I'm sooooo looking forward to see what Emma does at the playground in her walker. Once the weather gets warmer we'll head right on over to our local accessible playground. I'm so proud of my little girl!
My one little word for this year is Faith. Emma continues to remind me to have Faith that all things are possible.
I have to say that I am so glad I chose (or it chose me) Faith as my one little word for 2011! I feel focused in a way that I haven't in the last several years. Daily life demands make it easy for me to lose focus of the truly important things in life, to get pulled off balance. I find my one little word grounds me.
I love taking the time to notice the daily reminders that God is present in my life and that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Most days I feel hopeful, happy! and I love feeling this way! On the days when I don't feel so hopeful I rely on others and borrow from their faith. And I am so grateful to have many people with great faith from whom I can borrow.
This month has been filled with challenges, milestones, and some sadness. Highlights include Julia's 5th birthday and her acceptance into kindergarten at the school of our choice, Emma's exciting progress with crawling and the power chair testing, Chris' enrollment for his first marathon this spring, me finding some time to complete a few craft projects and the opportunity to carve out a few date nights! We also lost a dear family friend who will be sorely missed by many, but most especially by her family and my parents.
January brought with it a couple snow days/snow delays, colds, and the resurgence of our extra-curicular activities. It also allowed me to prioritize time for reflection in my daily activities. I'm starting to find more balance in my life and think it is a great way to start off the year. So far I'm happy with where my One Little Word is taking me this year.
This year I read about Ali Edward's One Little Word - the idea of picking a word as your personal theme for the year. Since I've never been a big fan of New Year's Resolutions, I thought the idea of a word might be perfect to ground me this year. I already had the perfect word: Faith.
The word Faith actually found me. In December I found a gift card that I had won for Silpada jewelry and I decided it was time to use it (you know, since it expired at the end of the year)! I picked up my catalog and found a couple of items that interested me but when I flipped to the back for the order information I came across a necklace that had the word Faith engraved on the inside of a concave disk with a mustard seed charm attached. I knew that was the item I needed to get with the card.
I don't think it's a coincidence that I discovered the idea of One Little Word right now. Or that Faith showed itself as my word for this year. So, now that I have my word, what am I supposed to do with it? According to Ali Edwards:
You live with it. You invite it into your life. You let it speak to you. You might even follow where it leads. There are so many possibilities.
I have my one little word. Faith. I actually LOVE it! I'm looking forward to the journey the little word will take me on in 2011.
I am a work in progress. I love drinking coffee, family time and documenting our life - not necessarily in that order. My hair is usually in a ponytail, house always looks lived in and a book is never far from my reach. I drive thousands of miles a year, mostly a little bit at a time - somehow that does and doesn't drive me crazy at the same time. My life is far from perfect but it works for me.
