2024 Word of the Year

 2024 Word of the Year

If you follow my blog, you know I try to choose a word for the year. I post the word on my wall or phone and watch how it plays out in my life. I’ve chosen everything from “be” to “yield.” 

I struggled finding my word for the year this year. I played with several options, rejecting them one by one. 

I looked at my past word choices and how they played out for me. I prayed about it. I wanted to find just the right word for 2024. 

 

Then, late in December, a word came to me. With Christmas celebrations, travel, and the busyness of life, I had given up on finding a word. It was the middle of the night. I woke up with the word “intentional” on my mind. 

 

It was a scary word that late in the darkness. It sounded too much like “intense” and that meant hard work. 

Hey, I’m both a retiree and a newlywed. Hard work isn’t all that appealing. I wanted to immediately reject “intentional” as my word for the year but even as I drifted back to sleep, the word crept through my dreamless thoughts. 

 

I woke up with a differing view. (Actually, the fact that I woke up and remembered the word at all is a major step!) Anyway, as the word rolled around in my mind, I considered it in these ways:

 

Intentional means to be focused.

Intentional means to be present.

Intentional means to be deliberate in both action and service.

It means to think before acting. Or speaking.

It means to assess my goals and take steps to achieve them.

 

Wow, even as I type these words, I am surprised by the potential of claiming this word as my word for the year. 

How about you? Have you claimed a word for the year?