OLW 2017

I get excited to think about my "one little word" for the year because it helps me to strive and improve; yet, not be too overwhelmed.  When I would make resolutions in the past, many times I would feel let down or confined to my choice.  The last two years I have focused on the word time. There were a few different reasons for this.
1. My girls are getting older.  This means no more nap time (which was my blogging/creating time).  So I had to really examine my time and how I wanted to spend it.  I didn't want them to remember me behind a computer screen.
2. Me.  I was leaving no time for me.  My laptop was open late into the night, I was pushing myself harder, and harder at work.  I needed to step back and look at what I really wanted to be doing with my time.  This reflection has left me with more time for puzzles, books, and conferences/PD to push me in the direction that I want to go professionally.
3. And then there is death.  I know...morbid, right.  But it happens and all I can do about it is make the most of the time that I have and with the people that matter to me.  So I focused my time on forming memories with the people around me.  This meant that I have spent more time roller skating, hiking, swimming, and cuddled on the couch watching the British Baking Show.

And after two years of working on this word, I feel better.  There is plenty of room to grow but I feel better about the priorities I have established in my life.

This year I have chosen the word kind.  It is certainly a word that we have all seen floating around social media these past few months.  It is no secret that we need more of it in the world.  But I need to put more of it in my life too. I ask my girls each day before I leave for work to please be kind at school.  What am I doing to model this?  So what does this word mean to me this year?

And so that is exactly what I am going to find out in 2017.

Em