Jumping on Bandwagons: My One Word for 2017

I got a Fitbit for Christmas and I am having such fun with it.

Since I strapped it on my wrist, I have logged over 73,000 steps, primarily in my house. The most entertaining thing about the Fitbit so far has been the reaction of my elderly dog, Dobby. For those of you unfamiliar with a Fitbit, you can set up the watch-like receiver to notify you at the end of each hour when you have not achieved your hourly step minimum. What this looks like at my house is me jumping out of my chair once an hour and marching around in circles with my dog following behind me wondering where we are going.

Because he is 14 years old and I am young and spry, I often catch up to him as we round a corner. And then, because he is mostly deaf, I startle him. Occasionally, he takes a shortcut through the kitchen and takes the lead.

My husband and I find this endlessly amusing. Clearly, it is time for all of us to go back to work because Dobby is confused and exhausted.

In addition to using a Fitbit to get my butt moving, I am also jumping on another popular bandwagon this January. For the last couple of years, I have joined many of you in choosing one word to be my “theme” word for the year. One proponent of the One Word calls it the “un-resolution” and says:

Our resolutions seldom work because they are based on the type of person we’re tired of being rather than who God wants us to become. Plus, resolutions can be “broken,” leaving no room for the process of growth. What if our hopes for the year ahead centered instead on who God wants us to become, and the transformation process?

In 2016, my word was Brave: no surprise to those of you who read my blog regularly. Brave was my goal, my focus, the object of my passion and curiosity. Throughout the year, personally and professionally, I considered what it might mean to be brave and what, if anything, my faith in God had to do with it. In moments of choice, I viewed my options through the lense of the word Brave.

Brave served me well, but now it is time for a new word.

For 2017, the word I choose to embrace and explore is Wonder, both the noun and the verb:

• a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.
• rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one’s experience
• desire or be curious to know something
• feel admiration and amazement, marvel

As I think back over the past year, I am grateful for the pull of Brave, but realize I now desire more of the mindfulness of Wonder.

If Brave is the doing, Wonder is the being. 

If Brave is seeking more, Wonder is gratitude for what is.

If Brave is the dreaming forward, Wonder is the savoring of now.

Wonder is acknowledgement of God’s presence in the midst of this moment, this conversation, this experience.

Wonder is being wildly curious about the beautiful human being in front of me and the equally amazing human being inside of me.

Wonder is the delight in discovery, the unexpected beauty of the ordinary, and the serendipity of surprise.

Wonder seeks the lessons from both light and dark, joy and pain, laughter and tears.

Wonder is the loveliness of letting go, being still and trusting that all will inexplicably be well, even when…especially when…the reality is temporarily the opposite.

Brave got me here, but I am hoping Wonder will take me deeper.

My second favorite poet in the world is Mary Oliver and I suspect this short verse from her pointed me in the direction of my new word:

Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

In fact, those words sound like the perfect un-resolution for this year.

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Did you pick a word for this year? If so, please share your word in the comments. Tell us why it speaks to you and your hopes for how it will impact the coming year.