Thursday, February 14, 2019

My Word of the Year


I know I'm little late to the game in terms of establishing (and posting) my "Word of the Year."  But, believe it or not, much of my tardiness was by design.

You see, today is the 45th day of 2019.  It's also the day in which I complete my 45th trip around the sun. That's right, today is my 45th birthday and I couldn't think of a better day to reveal my word of the year.

Now, I agree that turning 45 isn't as big of a deal as turning 40 or 50, but it's still significant.  You see, I think it's fair to say that at this point in my life I probably have more years behind me than I do in front of me. Yes, I know that's incredibly morbid, but I'm being real.  Sure, I might be one of those folks like the recently deceased George W. H. Bush who lives well into their 90s, but that's doubtful.  And, unless I'm in really good physical and mental health, I don't want to live that long.  While I'm being completely honest, I must also admit that accepting the fact that I'm on the preverbal "downhill slope" of life is... strange. It has made me stop and take stock of my life and think about what I want the rest of my life to look like. 


When I was in my teens and twenties, I, like so many in my generation, thought I had all the time in the world.  That arrogance of youth even extended somewhat into my thirties.  But, when I turned 40 and officially entered this strange time of life defined as "midlife," the time when Evelyn Couch from the 1980s movie Fried Green Tomatoes said she was "too old to be young and too young to be old," I knew I no longer had the luxury of time.  I viewed turning 40 as the equivalent of resuming a football game after halftime.  I figured, God willing, that the game wasn't over but the amount of time I had to play was limited. I'm now five years older, so I'm well into the third quarter.

So, as funny as this sounds, I've spent a lot of time over the past three months thinking about time.  Maybe it was due to my 45th birthday rapidly approaching; maybe it was because of various time related events that have been happening in my life, I don't know.  None-the-less, time has been on my mind a lot here lately.

One lazy Sunday morning last month, during a broadcast of CBS Sunday Morning, a Viking River Cruises commercial caught my attention.  As I watched, it deeply resonated with me and it conveyed everything about time and living that I had been feeling and contemplating during the previous months, but hadn't been able to fully express in words.  


Amen.  I don't think I could've said it any better.  How very important it is to spend one's time wisely and that is exactly what I intend to do.

I cannot think of a better way to spend the rest of the time I have on this Earth, however long that may be, than by simply enjoying it.  So, my word of the year is: 

I plan to enjoy the little things, enjoy the big things, enjoy the ride, enjoy the process, enjoy the moment, enjoy the people in my life, and enjoy journey.  Most of all, I plan to enjoy myself.

I say "life is too short..." all the time and, you know what, it really is.  This year I vow to do more things that I enjoy, do things I've always said I wanted to do (but haven't for whatever reason), and eliminate the things that I don't enjoy to the best of my ability.  



Although I'm not much of a Valentine's Day person, sharing one's birthday with the second most commercialized holiday of the year can do that to a person, I hope you have a great Valentine's Day. Whatever you do, be sure to enjoy!



Linking up with:



Thanks to Steph @ Life According to Steph for exposing me to the Guy Lombardo quote (which might have originally come from a Chinese proverb) in her 12/6/18 post.

7 comments:

  1. Happy birthday!

    Approaching 42, I think a lot more about time than I used to.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well I'm further along my journey than you with definitely more years behind than ahead so I need to heed your very good advice. I hope you had a lovely birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish I was 45 again it seems just like yesterday .time goes by faster the older you get so yes enjoy every minute of it

    ReplyDelete
  4. Replies
    1. Sorry for the delay in responding; life has been quite busy the past 2 weeks. Thank you very much!

      Delete
  5. Happy Birthday! Enjoy is a great word. I'm only announcing my word on my blog on Monday, so I'm later than you on that one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Good to know I'm not the only one being a little late to the game! LOL!

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...