{"id":7021,"date":"2017-01-01T09:32:59","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T14:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=7021"},"modified":"2017-01-01T09:32:59","modified_gmt":"2017-01-01T14:32:59","slug":"one-year-one-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=7021","title":{"rendered":"one year. one word."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"6mmfmbjd8pe-eddy-lackmann\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So with the new year and accompanying plethora of \u201cYada-Yada-Yada\u2019s of the Year\u201d proclamations, I found myself somewhat amused by Merriam-Webster\u2019s announcement that \u201csurreal\u201d was its word of the year for 2016. Defined as something that has been \u201cmarked by the intense irrational reality of a dream,\u201d the company\u2019s \u201cofficial\u201d statement read:<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2018Surreal\u2019 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Surreal\u2019s selection was based upon volume, as the company analyzes \u201cperennial words that are looked up day-in and day-out, and words that spike because of news events, politics, pop culture, or sports.\u201d Close runner ups included \u201crevenant,\u201d \u201cicon,\u201d and \u201cin omnia paratus\u201d \u2014 a Latin term meaning \u201cready for all things.\u201d<\/p>\n

So it got me thinking\u2026
\n\u2026 about the year to come\u2026<\/p>\n

Perhaps you\u2019ve seen the encouragement\u2026 Pick a word. Any word. What\u2019s your one word for the year ahead?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cChange is possible, but focus is required,\u201d suggests MyOneWord.org, meaning that if we were to focus solely on one thing \u2014 just one thing \u2014 one word, that is \u2014 that change would be more probable and likely; it wouldn\u2019t seem like such a daunting task. Our word could be\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 resilient\u2026 belief\u2026 patient\u2026 disciplined\u2026 grateful\u2026 peace loving\u2026 healthy\u2026 consistent\u2026 positive\u2026 brave\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/em> That\u2019s it: you.<\/em> It matters not what it may mean to another; it matters what it means to you.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy One Word\u201d authors Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen contend that: \u201cOur resolutions seldom work because they are based on the type of person we\u2019re tired of being rather than who God wants us to become. Plus, resolutions can be \u2018broken,\u2019 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?<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

They thus outline the following steps:<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

And step three: Pick a word. \u201cThere 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<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

What I appreciate about this exercise is that it makes change and growth possible. It makes it practical; it makes it noticeable. It doesn\u2019t take a divine lightning bolt from the sky, nor is it merely some rhetorically-pleasing resolution that we\u2019ll be defeatedly chucking in a matter of months. This is real growth\u2026 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\u2026 each year. That process is nothing short of, well, surreal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Join me, friends. Pick a word. Any word. Just one.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So with the new year and accompanying plethora of \u201cYada-Yada-Yada\u2019s of the Year\u201d proclamations, I found myself somewhat amused by Merriam-Webster\u2019s announcement that \u201csurreal\u201d was its word of the year for 2016. Defined as something that has been \u201cmarked by the intense irrational reality of a dream,\u201d the company\u2019s \u201cofficial\u201d statement read: \u201c \u2018Surreal\u2019 is … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “one year. one word.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7021"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7025,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021\/revisions\/7025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}