What’s your theme of 2024? Yesterday a friend texted a Washington Post article to a lot of us that had a little tool in it, to find “your nudge word.” The article can be found here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/interactive/2023/nudge-word-new-year-resolutions/
Do you have a nudge word that makes sense to you? Since our family is still visiting here all week, I haven’t had enough quiet, by-myself reflection time to figure out my “nudge word” for 2024 just yet, but I do love the concept. Interestingly, at this time last year, I had chosen the word “Resipiscence” to be my word for 2023. (I didn’t know it as a “nudge word” back then. The word “resipiscence” is a word that came to me at a workshop that I had attended early last year.) The dictionary describes resipiscence as this: “a return to a sane, sound, or correct view or position“. After experiencing the pandemic in 2020, the absolute worst year of seizures for our epileptic son in 2021, and the long, painful, drawn-out illness and eventual death of my mother-in-law of 2022, I wanted a word that I could repeat like a mantra, which represented to me, the getting back on track to a certain level of “normalcy” and peace and calm and stability in my life, and in the experience of our family. Despite a few unfortunate blips here and there, thankfully, 2023 proved to be a year of resipiscence for both me and my immediate family. I think that the idea of picking a nudge word or a theme for your year (or maybe even for individual experiences/vacations/pursuits, etc.) has great merit and can be quite powerful. It is the uncomplicated reminder of what you really want for yourself, and for the moments in life that you experience this year and beyond. So, nudge, nudge . . . . and if you are so inclined, please tell us about your own nudge word that you chose for 2024, and also why you chose it.
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
OOOOPS! Much like trying to remember to date things “2024”, I already forgot my new feature. The Question Prompt of the Day from 3000 Questions About Me:
5. What is your current state of mind?
Happy new year, Kelly. I like your word from last year. This year, I’m going with something simple: calm. I have a tendency to spin decisions out of control like Spider Man shooting webs from his hands (I’ve never seen Spider Man, but I think that’s what he does). My thought process is never calm…”If I do that, then this happens, this may happen, this won’t happen, I can’t do that, and that also happens.” I exhaust myself. But this is the first year in decades that I’m not worrying about a family member’s imminent death. Mom is gone. Dad is gone. Sister is gone. Sweet puppy is gone. I’m allowing myself a little squeak of a breath, sticking my head out of the hole, and tapping a foot into the possibilities of that kind of a lifestyle. Calm. Wishing you space to take a breath and a year-full of sweetness and light. Happy New Year!
I like “calm”, Gail. Even the word is calming to say. (I’m sorry for all of your losses). You deserve calm, and sweetness and light. <3