Once again, I'm late to a party. This is a chronic problem that I have and, unfortunately, this time I can't blame my husband or my child. I'm the one that's to blame.
The party that I'm talking about is the “pick one word that will define your 2013” party. I first saw it on Money Saving Mom and then, a couple of weeks later, my college friend and blogger extraordinaire, Steph (the proprietess behind Life According to Steph. If you like to laugh, like smart people, and enjoy good writing, visit her site) did the same thing. And since I'm big on stealing good ideas from people I respect, I figured this would be a good thing to do.
Except there's just one problem. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little wordy. I like to talk and I generally have a lot to say (except about Star Wars and general science fiction. That's a good way to make me go mute). So picking one word proved to be an extremely difficult feat.
And that's why I am late to the party. I couldn't pick a word. Every time I did choose one, I thought of 16 reasons why it wasn't good enough. Which, in it's own weird way, led me to the word I picked for this year. The word?
Commitment.
So why commitment?
I picked this word for several reasons. One, although I am good at keeping obligations to other people, I am terrible at keeping them for myself. If I make an appointment and something my kid or a friend needs, I will cancel in myself, even if it's something I've been looking forward to for a while. I make lots of promises to myself that I never fulfill. And I need to do a better job of staying committed to taking care of myself.
Two, I am terrible with follow through on projects that I start. I mean, I being with good intentions and all the energy and resolve to finish but then…nothing. Life gets in the way and I drop the project faster than I'd drop a loaded gun (provided that safety was on because that could get dangerous). Or, my self-confidence issues get in the way and I delve into all my negative self-talk and wind up talking myself out of whatever it is I was doing regardless of how good my idea might be. I need to learn to wade through that and stay committed to what I start.
Three, commitment shows discipline. It takes a lot of hard work and self-control to stay committed to a plan or idea. I know because I did it once before, when the husband and I were paying down our debt. And I remember how good I felt when I measured our progress and how confident I felt that we stuck to our commitment to get rid of that excess baggage. I need to rediscover that discipline and the way to achieve that is by committing to do it.
And finally, it sets a good example for my daughter. I've talked before (I think) about how much of what I do is to set a good example for her. How can I teach her to honor her commitments if I don't do the same? If she sees Mommy quitting, it's so much easier for her to say “I know that I said I'd do that but I really don't want to. You give up, too, Mommy.” And she'd be telling the truth. I can't have that.
So there you go. Commitment is the word of the year. I've laid out all my goals for the year and I will stay committed to them. In fact, feel free to ask me how they're going if you want to. I could use the extra accountability.
Readers, have you picked a word of the year? If so, what is it?
