So, That's Why!

This year, the choice of my One Little Word, has caused me far too much stress. Here it is, the seventh day of the new year, and I'm just settling on a word. And I can't really say, I've settled on a word either, since it's really a word with a bunch of words associated.

Ready?

My word is IMPROVE. woohoo

photo from Link-Assistant.com

Well, I thought that was kind of lame because I'm always trying to improve.. To me, the point of living is to improve. Every little decision I make is based on this idea anyway, so it's no big revelation for me. The thing is, though, this year I intend to IMPROVE with INTENTION. In keeping with past years words, I've decided to FOCUS and ORGANIZE my year with 12 areas that I intend to IMPROVE. (And, if you believe the Mayan calendar, which I DO NOT, this is my chance to do it.)

The 12 areas (12? Hmmm....like 12 MONTHS!) are:

1. DIET - By diet, I mean, food, not weight loss. Essentially, my intention is to not eating things that cause me to feel ill. I know I can't tolerate wheat and lactose, and yet I've continued to torture myself out of sheer stubbornness. No more in 2012. I've already started this improvement with much success. Much as I ended my smoking addition in the past, I'm shunning all foods that make my body miserable.
2. STORYTELLING - My hobbies revolve around storytelling, mostly about my kids, our family and our life together. In 2011, I shifted the focus off those things and this year, I will return to them. There are countless stories that I didn't record from last year, and I'm bummed about that. My scrapbooking will shift back to the basics of storytelling and the paper and glue variety.
3. FINANCIAL - Finally on the right track, now I need to sustain it and keep improving.
4. TIME MANAGEMENT - Our lives have been sucked into mindless games and pursuits again, much like in 2010 when we went internet candy free. So much more time can be added to my days by improving how I spend my time....which leads to ....
5. FAMILY - The most important thing in my life. I need to spend more time with them.
6. PHOTOGRAPHY - Ana is taking a class at school this year, so we'll get to share in this joy.
7. HOUSE and HOME - Projects of home improvement mostly are surface in my home, or left incomplete - with the help of my sidekick, Invisibob, things will get DONE!
8. SOCIAL - I'm happy to sit on my couch with my nose in a book most times, but that is not always a good thing.
9. CURIOSITY - Matt asks me dozens of questions a week (a day? an hour?) that I don't have an answer to. My response is usually, "We should look that up!" and we don't. This year, we will (and not get sucked into stupid computer games before we get our answers, ahem...)
10. ADVENTURE - I need to invite some adventure into my life this year - my kids are going to France with their father for 3 weeks - what an adventure! Since I'll be here, I need to plan an adventure of my own with Invisibob (within driving distance, of course).
11. REFLECTION - I need to take the time to reflect on what I'm improving this year, by writing in my blog or my art journals.
12. RELAX - Finally, this was my dear Invisibob's suggestion. In fact, it's his suggestion every year for the last five that he's been my sidekick and best friend. My usual response is "I can't". There's room for improvement.

So, that's it. IMPROVE. I'll see where it takes me. And I intend to share it here, to tell my stories to friends and family and reflect with a little photography thrown in. See, that accomplishes five things right there! Piece of cake!

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Why Invisibob? This was my dad's nickname for him and also because he refuses to be photographed, so I used the Androidify app and came up with this: