I was reading a social media post by a young entrepreneur on New Year’s resolutions. Instead of making resolutions, she is focusing on a key word in her New Year as she did at the start of last year. Her results sounded amazing.
There is so much I want to do and so much I have to do to be a positive source and a strength for my family and my students. It wears me down at times. Sometimes I forget to tap into a source of strength for myself. Faith is great, but I still get tired. What do I do with my faith? I pray that bad things don’t happen to the ones I love. Perhaps I should be praying more often in thanks for the good that has happened, forgetting the bad and the scary road that events can take as they have in the past. Moving forward from the past is important.
At any rate, I know the power of positive thinking. I know that I need yoga, God and faith, my family, friends, relaxation, and healthy food. Yet, I still could improve my attitude. Words affect one’s attitude. I often wake up in the morning, thinking, “Crap. I have to get up.” “Crap. I can’t lay on my back anymore.” That’s a pretty crass word to use in greeting my day. So I plan to stop making that my first word in reaction to a new day.
My key word for 2018 is going to be “Energy.” There is so much I want to do, and I will not give up. I plan to continue doing what I can to help others. I will continue writing and hopefully improve my writing, publishing, and networking skills as an author. But I still plan to be an inspiring educator (even more than I have been), a source of strength for my son and mother, as well as a woman who is faithful to God and her own principles. I will also know when I need to relax and give that time to myself. These are my goals. Energy is the word that will manifest that attitude. I don’t have to bounce off the walls or be a gymnast. I am talking about mental, intellectual, and psychological energy. I will not say ‘Yes’ to everything that comes across my plate, but I will be accepting of new experiences. (By the way, there was one year when I came close to saying yes to everything. I don’t regret it; it was a great learning experience, but I see that it couldn’t go on forever…). I will channel my energy into achieving the results I want from life.
What’s the best that could happen? This is what I need to focus on. The best outcomes will be that I influence countless students to love reading and writing, that I let them leave me as more developed humans than they were before knowing me, that I become a source of strength and giving to others rather than a collector or hoarder of objects, money, or knowledge, and that I become a writer who is never out of ideas and never too beaten down to improve my craft, never too hopeless too continue or too broke to take a break from working and do what I really, truly love. All of this is in addition to having time for my family and loved ones, enjoying time and sharing of myself with my boyfriend, friends, etc. In doing these things, I want to feel I have some measure of control over what I am doing in my life. I will not be a slave to money. Or fame, or any other contest whereby I’m judged or measured up by the numbers. This is the best that could happen. I will not even voice the worst. Why? Because I am not worried about it. It does not exist unless my thoughts can breathe life into it. Having wasted parts of my life on worry, I see the results it can have. I’m not going to worry about it.
This goes back to a favored quote by Nikki Giovanni, writer, poet, activist, and educator. This quote spurred me on when I was a 20-year-old college student, questioning my place in the world and where my priorities lay.
“There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don’t expect you to save the world I do think it’s not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair and disrespect.” – Nikki Giovanni
If you’d like to read more about my thought process at age 20 (I sure needed a lot of work) and how she inspired me just by writing the words I needed, please see my blog entry at Nikki Giovanni, You Inspire Me!
This year, instead of worrying on the worst that could happen, I will live a life of purpose and spend my time and my words on voicing the things I wish to come about. All of this will be centered around the key word: Energy.
I’ll let you know after this year how it works! If you were to choose a key word for this year’s intentions, what would that word be?
pamelascanepa 