GATHER…a Word for the Year

I stopped doing new year’s resolutions a long time ago.  I NEVER kept them; in fact they were usually broken well before January was over.  And, for the  most part, they were unrealistic for me.  Several years ago, I was introduced to the word of the year concept and found that it really worked much better than a resolution. You choose one or two words that represent an area of your life that you’d like work on and concentrate on doing that. It’s not a laundry list of goals or a checklist of things you want to get done.  It’s  a character building/changing exercise. And while it’s not something I succeed at on a daily basis, it is something that does improve as the year goes on because I’m aware of it and therefore make a conscious effort to change it.

This year my word is GATHER. I’m also using BLOOM. There’s several reasons for choosing these words and once I started thinking about them, I saw little signs that reinforced my decision to use them.  One of the things I came across was this pretty little plaque in the clearance section at a local store. It came home with me and is on the table directly across the room from my kitchen sink where I will see it many times daily.

I really struggle with being sociable and doing things outside of my home. I am, by nature, a homebody in the sense that I am perfectly happy to stay at home and do ‘my’ things: craft, read, write, watch old movies, etc.  For the most part, I am happy with my own company.  I didn’t always use to be this way but I have found over the years that I tend toward being more of a recluse. To be honest, though, I am a people person. I love hearing people’s stories and discussing common interests. My husband is really a people person and is always ready and willing to go and do at the drop of a hat. I have to have days notice and dread it the whole time and psych myself up. Funny thing is, I always have a good time once I get there. It’s the getting there that’s hard.  He made a remark several months ago that got me to thinking and I realized that I have become quite anti-social lately. I’m not exactly sure why this has happened but I know that it’s not really a good thing so I’m determined to change that this year.  I am going to gather together with friends more and bloom where God has planted me.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another -and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25