MY GUIDING WORD FOR 2024

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As a new calendar opens, so do my hopes to live the year well. You may have heard of the practice of prayerfully choosing a word* each year to guide and inspire our ways of living and being. I began doing this in 2015, and I have found that the word not only helps my focus and discernment throughout the year, but it also often surprises me as the year ends, when I reflect and discover how much the choice influenced my life.

This time, my discernment took me through two other words before I discovered the right one for 2024: Cherish.

After my ovarian cancer (eight years ago!) and with my increased age (67), I sense the fragility and fleetingness of life. I also have a tendency to want to somehow justify my presence here, to merit these bonus days I have been given–so I sought a word that would guide me to make each day worthwhile, to never waste a moment. First, I chose Prepare, intending to organize my schedule for maximum productivity. Then I went to Steward, to include mindful gratitude as I manage my days as gifts from God.

But during my morning journaling last week, I suddenly sensed God asking me to wait and listen. And as I walked later that day, the word, Cherish came to mind. I looked up its meaning and my word was confirmed! Merriam-Webster defines “cherish” as: to hold dear; to feel or show affection for; to keep or cultivate with care and affection; nurture; to entertain or harbor in the mind deeply and resolutely.

“Cherish” encompasses everything I had intended with my other words but changes my perspective. Cherish reminds me that I need not try to merit my bonus days or make them worthy through productivity; I can cherish each day for what it holds, not for what I can wring from it. The day itself is valuable as a gift from God with its lessons, blessings, and experiences that teach, enhance, or perfect my life.

This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

The meanings, to hold dear will serve to remind me of the preciousness of each day and to use care and affection in managing my life choices. I want to savor my ordinary days and to regard them as holy, to harbor (them) in my soul deeply and resolutely. With God’s help, I will deeply cherish my days and their precious gifts: God, Jim, our family and friends, my body, my spirit, the earth–and you, dear readers–and to fill them with goodness and love.

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it. ~ Richard Bach

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every moment of light and dark is a miracle. ~ Walt Whitman

Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself.
~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Do you have a word for 2024?

 

*I began this practice of choosing a guiding word from Abbey of the Arts (https://abbeyofthearts.com/). You may appreciate their podcasts and other excellent resources!
Bible verse is NRSVUE, found at https://www.biblegateway.com/
Photo by Karen