#1 One Word
Choose one word.
Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why. Imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you?
My one word would be: Celebration.
Sometimes it’s a little hard to think about celebrating after experiencing a major loss, as I did the year before with my dad, but as they say, there is life after death. This year was spent doing just that: living and celebrating that life. Here’s what I celebrated this year:
Possibilities. 2010 sucked, obviously, but 2011 was new and filled with so much potential. I had survived 2010 and really, it could only get better.
Love. In March, I marked my 6th dating anniversary with my bf. I still can’t believe we’ve been together this long, let alone long distance the entire time. It’s been hard and easy all at once. I’m eagerly looking forward to our future but am enjoying every second of our present. In July, I stood in a friend’s wedding and celebrated with her, her new husband and their families in a rocking party.
Achievement. In May, I walked across my final commencement line and received my MBA after 2 years of hard work and pretending to have done the reading (what? That is hard work!). Looking out into the crowd to see my family and a few members from my church made me smile even harder. I was so glad to be able to share this moment with them. A few days later my older sister graduated with her AA and in June, we drove down to Los Angeles to watch my younger sister walk across the line to receive her Bachelor’s from UCLA. We really like education in this family.
Strength. In July, I joined a few friends from church and we went white water rafting down the South Fork of the American River. It was definitely a memorable event and posed a bit of a challenge paddling against the current at times. My arms are aching at the memory. In August, I ran a 10k. Up until race day, my longest distance I ran was only 5 1/2 miles and that was almost 2 months before the run. But I ended up running the entire 6.2 mile course and I could feel the excitement flowing through my body during that last mile. I couldn’t believe that I managed to run that far and running brought me closer to my dad, who used to be an avid runner himself thanks to his years in the Army.
Myself. Finally, I celebrated myself. I vowed to take care of myself and have fun. What better way to celebrate than to live right? I turned 30 in August surrounded by family and friends, I worked hard to increase my running mileage (and then I failed), I went white water rafting, ran a few races, graduated from grad school, traveled to Monterey and Seattle, started playing badminton again, and hung out with friends. I celebrated myself simply by living.
For next year, my word will be <strong>renewal</STRONG>. Next year I’m looking for a renewal in my career, my life and relationships, everything. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in 2012.
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