the simple importance of words - 2012

although i have a list of personal things i may set out to accomplish over the next year (like, return to Haiti, begin a 5 or 10 year calendar journal, or complete a running plan),  while praying and meditating over 2012, four words have come to mind to serve as my mantra over the course of the next 12 months.

simplify.

healthy.

adventure.

finish.

simplify: my schedule. my expectations in the classroom. my faith. my analytical mind.  get rid of all that is unnecessary.  reduce the junk in my figurative and physical attics.  don't try to accomplish x, y, and z in one day. do one thing very well.

healthy: lifestyle choices. work out to be healthy, not to be a certain number on a scale or size in a waistband.  healthy relationships.  healthy world- and self-views.  healthy sleeping habits.  healthy giving, and receiving.  healthy dreams.  healthy commitment to work.  a healthy mindset.

adventure: my story with jesus.  who wants to merely walk with him, when rather you can depart on an adventure?  adventures are exciting.  i am going into 2012 expectant for what he is going to do. in my heart, my life, in Nashville, in Haiti, in the world.  and this year, I've begun by realizing that I am called to be on an adventure with him.  adventures have crazy twists and turns and enemies and victories and lots and lots of growth.  they are scary and intimidating, but oh-- are they worth it!

finish:  finish books.  start with one.  complete a running plan. then move on to training for a half-marathon.  or, let's just start with a 5k.  fully establish myself as a photographer, a goal i began nearly a decade ago.  finish what i start at school.  do things into completion.  perhaps even more importantly, if i know it is something i'm only going to give half a heart to, don't start it in the first place.  learn to finish, and to finish well, by only beginning what is meaningful in the first place.

Lord, i place each of these in your hand.  i'm not seeking to climb rung-by-rung a ladder of success, gain accolades, or hear an "atta boy!" at the end of the day.  i'm seeking to make room for what truly matters most.  what makes me more available and prepared to do the work which you have given me.  when the secondary "goals" of 2012 are stripped away and lost in memories down the road, i want to remember that this is the year i learned to simplify. that i learned to live healthy. that my adventure with you continued, and i learned to begin only what was important so that i would make room to finish meaningful tasks.