I’ve seen a trend on blogs this year. Rather than people writing out a long list of unaccomplishable Resolutions, the notion is to pick three, just three, words that are what you want to make the next year about.
For instance, you might pick the word health. This would eliminate a handful of specific resolutions such as “I will exercise daily” and “I will eat better” and “I will lower my calorie intake” and “I will eat a salad every lunch”.
Or you might pick achievements. This would encompass all those resolutions about work, success, striving…
Even though I already wrote out my Resolutions list, having three main words sounded like a good idea.
The first word that came to mind was Dare. I was going for “be daring”, but that’s two words so I opted for just dare. For me, this means to not just step out of my comfort zone now and then. It means, even when I’m afraid to go ahead and do something. It means to be more adventurous, and there’s all kinds of ways to do that. Experiment with my recipes. Step out in faith when I can’t see the foundation. Do the things I’m nervous about doing. Try something new. Keep trying at something old until I get it. Don’t give up. Don’t falter. Keep trudging. Dare to be great. Dare to be wonderful. Dare to accomplish. Just dare to do it.
My second word is Orange. “What an odd word,” you say. Well, let me explain. First, my kitchen is orange. I love it. It’s a very bright, refreshing color. Orange has always been my favorite fruit and fragrance. It’s such a wonderful color, that California even has a City and County named after it! And in this wonderful Orange County is a miraculous little place called Disneyland, also extravagantly orange in its decorations. Oranges are full of vitamins and fragrant juice and taste wonderful. Oranges are the best. One of my favorite quotes comes from Frank Sinatra: “Orange is the happiest color.”
I had a hard time coming up with my third word. I wanted something like successful or accomplished but everyone’s definitions are different. And let’s face it, without having a day job how successfully accomplished can I be? It’s a great word to strive for, but I’m not so sure even I can call myself successful right now. I’m getting there, to be sure. But I still wanted a different word.
Enter Disneyland (again!). I have a favorite T-Shirt that I wear almost every time I go there. It’s a black princess T and has a big red name badge screened on front that says “HELLO… My Name Is AWESOME!” I love it. It’s fun to wear and yes, garners me some smiles as I walk by. I don’t wear it because I want that much attention. But it’s fun to hear others talk amongst themselves: “Did you see that T-Shirt?” “That’s so cool, I gotta get one!” It’s just a lot of fun.
Since we finished off winter break by another trip to The Happiest Place on Earth, I wore my “Awesome!” T-Shirt. And was impressed at the attention it gathered. More than the usual. I actually had people come up to me and start talking. It was, again, fun. I like talking to people. I like smiling and getting to know people. I like having fun. And that’s when it hit me: When I bought a juice and the cashier asked, “How many people have called you ‘Awesome’ today?” I said, “Not enough!” And I knew then and there that it had to be my third word. Awesome is exactly what I’m striving for in the year 2012.
Picking just three words to set for a yearly standard is no easy task. The fruits of your life will be different than mine. But whichever words you choose for 2012, be sure you Dare to be an Awesome Orange in life.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
