Inside: I don’t know how the word I’ve chosen for this year will influence my life, but I’m confident it will guide me … in ways I can’t even imagine right now. ~
When I started choosing one word for each year in 2015, my family and I established a little tradition. We sit around the dinner table a few months before the new year and they try to guess what my new word is.
Some years they figure it out pretty easily. Other times, it takes many guesses, plus a variety of clues from me.
This year was no exception
Because Lilly was in Spain for the semester, however, our “guess-Mom’s-word” game had to wait until we were visiting her before Thanksgiving.
It was maybe our second night in Seville, and we were having dinner at a cozy restaurant. We’d already enjoyed several tapas, small shareable plates of food that Spain is known for.
As Randy and the girls started throwing out possibilities, I tried to steer them in the right direction. It’s a short word, maybe an adverb, I told them. (I had not looked up parts of speech in advance, though I have since then.)
And the winner is …
It took a while but Lilly finally guessed correctly. The scene is engrained in my mind in warm, sepia tones, which I suppose is fitting, considering that my word is now.
The dictionary describes now as “an adverb of time.” In spoken English, it’s used to signal what’s going to happen next: “Now we’re going to …”
Synonyms include at present, at the moment, currently, this minute, immediately.
And then there are all the common phrases containing now that have occurred to me since the word first slipped into my mind some months ago:
Now or never.
Now what?
Right now.
Not now.
What does it all mean?
I can’t help but wonder, as I always do.
Of all the words I’ve chosen over the years—fruit, fierce, bold, strength and remember, among others—this one is perhaps the most ambiguous. As per usual, I have no idea what it will mean to me during the next 12 months.
That said, I also have every confidence now the right word for me in 2024.
It will guide me just as its predecessors have done, in ways I can’t even imagine right now.
• • •
Do you choose a word or theme for each new year? If so, please share in the comments. If this is not a preferred practice for you, feel free to mention a new habit or mindset that you are hoping to carry with you throughout 2024.
♥ Lois
Of all the words I’ve chosen over the years, NOW is perhaps the most ambiguous. I have no idea what it will mean to me during the next 12 months, but that's OK. Share on X I don't know why, but I'm confident NOW is the right word for me in 2024. It will guide me just as its predecessors have done, in ways I can’t even imagine right now. Share on XP.S. I’m linking up this week with One Word 2024, #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Let’s Have Coffee and Grace & Truth.