Three Words for 2023
I’ve said it before: I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. Thanks to Chris Brogan and others, years ago I decided to use a three-word theme for my year. Others chose a single word for their year. I like three words because it adds variety. Also, whenever I feel like I’m starting to drift, having my three words also very much helps me get back to my intention for the year, like a three-point compass.
It’s interesting. What often happens throughout the year is that the words take on different meanings than I originally thought they would in January. This is normal and part of growth.
Nevertheless, as each year comes to a close, I’ve prayed for the next year’s words to come. Some arrive quickly and strong. Others sometimes arrive a the last minute. That was the case this year anyway.
Before I share the words for this year, I need to review how last year went.
THREE WORDS FOR 2022
As I shared last year, my three words for 2022 intimidated me. My three words were Hospitable, Celebrate, and Together. So outward-focused!
Celebrate
The easiest - and most fun - was Celebrate. Our human nature is drawn toward cynicism. There’s a good reason why we have holidays and other special days; otherwise, we might not be excited about anything. So... it felt weird - and fun. I began celebrating every little thing I saw, every small victory. I’d get fired up with Facebook friends won that day’s Wordle challenge. I celebrated every new day, every time I got back up after falling down (literally and metaphorically).
Together
Together also was easy to work on. I felt drawn toward it as a carryover from all the isolation felt during the pandemic shutdowns. Whenever the choice was to participate virtually or in-person, if at all possible, I’d get together in-person. Any gathering, really, was an occasion to... celebrate. :)
Hospitable
The first word that had come to me was the one I knew would be the hardest. I thought of Hospitable to mean having people over to our home. While that’s true, what I came to understand is that it means to be a “neighbor” in general and to look for opportunities to serve and care for others. Some examples that come to mind:
A family in our apartment building has English not as their primary language. They’ve had issues in their apartment where they’ve needed the maintenance team to handle. They asked me to step in on their behalf to help escalate the situation. In addition, I and my family are working to understand some of their language so we can communicate better.
We had a complex-wide power outage last Summer that left us all in the dark. We took advantage of opportunities to make sure our neighbors had flashlights, candles, etc. We also exchanged names and phone numbers.
During the severe storm that came through over Christmas, another neighbor needed help because her car got stranded. We drove over to where she was and gave her a jump so she could get on her way.
My wife’s coworker needed her new battery installed but didn’t have the tools. We drove to her home and spent several hours helping her get that situation handled.
Hospitable, Celebrate, Together. What a year 2022 was!
THREE WORDS FOR 2023
As I shared earlier, my three words for this year didn’t come all at once. In fact, the third one came on the last day of the year. These three words call my higher and intimidate me. As they should.
My three words for 2023: Shed, Save, and Share.
What at first strikes me is how counterintuitive they seem. Shed - to get rid of - and Save - to amass? Where does Share fit into this?
Shed
Since a hospital stay in December 2019, I have gained nearly forty pounds. I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been. I’ve allowed myself to get out of control in this area, and I’m going to work to shed a lot of this weight. To reach my goal weight, I’ll have to shed about 64 pounds.
In addition, I’ve let other things accumulate that I need to discard. I keep on thinking about how easy it would be to pick up and move if we needed to, and, right now, it’s not that easy. So I’m going to seriously look at what I’m holding onto and discard what’s no longer working for me.
This practice applies not just to physical things but also to habits, mindsets, and other patterns that are no longer working for me.
Save
This word is mainly about bringing my personal finances under control so that I may have more of it left over for fun things like travel, as well as for emergencies that will arise.
Share
This last word was the hardest to feel out. I was almost going to continue with Celebrate for another year because of the experience. I felt, however, that I needed a unique spin. As of this writing, I’m looking for my next work opportunity where I can share my talents, skills, and experience. I also am looking for volunteer opportunities where I can share and build on the same.
Moreover, I plan to continue looking for opportunities to share of myself among my neighbors and others.
Shed, Save, and Share. It’s going to be an amazing year!
