So with the new year and accompanying plethora of “Yada-Yada-Yada’s of the Year” proclamations, I found myself somewhat amused by Merriam-Webster’s announcement that “surreal” was its word of the year for 2016. Defined as something that has been “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream,” the company’s “official” statement read:
“ ‘Surreal’ is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year because it was looked up significantly more frequently by users in 2016 than it was in previous years, and because there were multiple occasions on which this word was the one clearly driving people to their dictionary.”
Surreal’s selection was based upon volume, as the company analyzes “perennial words that are looked up day-in and day-out, and words that spike because of news events, politics, pop culture, or sports.” Close runner ups included “revenant,” “icon,” and “in omnia paratus” — a Latin term meaning “ready for all things.”
So it got me thinking…
… about the year to come…
Perhaps you’ve seen the encouragement… Pick a word. Any word. What’s your one word for the year ahead?
“Change is possible, but focus is required,” suggests MyOneWord.org, meaning that if we were to focus solely on one thing — just one thing — one word, that is — that change would be more probable and likely; it wouldn’t seem like such a daunting task. Our word could be…
… resilient… belief… patient… disciplined… grateful… peace loving… healthy… consistent… positive… brave…
It matters not if the word is an adjective, verb, or any other particular part of speech. But it should have great meaning to you. That’s it: you. It matters not what it may mean to another; it matters what it means to you.
“My One Word” authors Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen contend that: “Our resolutions seldom work because they are based on the type of person we’re tired of being rather than who God wants us to become. Plus, resolutions can be ‘broken,’ leaving no room for the process of growth. What if our hopes for the year ahead centered instead on who God wants us to become, and the transformation process?
It’s okay to want to be a better you, and the New Year is a natural time to start. The question is, how? My One Word replaces broken promises with a vision for real change. When you choose a single word, you have a clarity and focus. You are moving toward the future rather than swearing off the past.”
They thus outline the following steps:
Step one: determine the kind of person you want to become. Think about December of 2017, the end of next year. Who do you want to be by then?
Step two: identify the characteristics of that person. Visualize them. What are they like? What are the specific qualities of the person you want to become?
And step three: Pick a word. “There might be fifteen things that you want to change, but you must resist the temptation to promise you will do them all. Instead, simply commit to ONE WORD.”
What I appreciate about this exercise is that it makes change and growth possible. It makes it practical; it makes it noticeable. It doesn’t take a divine lightning bolt from the sky, nor is it merely some rhetorically-pleasing resolution that we’ll be defeatedly chucking in a matter of months. This is real growth… real change. If we are going to become the people God has called each of us individually to be, then we need to grow and change… each year. That process is nothing short of, well, surreal.
Join me, friends. Pick a word. Any word. Just one.
Respectfully…
AR