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The month of January is almost over, I know many New Years resolutions have already been made and broken, but I have finally…finally! Come up with my word of the year. (Remind me next year not to do this exercise, btw, unless of course this year is wildly successful for me!) In my post last week I mentioned that as a participant in the #inspiringmoms network, I was invited to choose my Word of The Year to guide me through 2013.  The Word Of The Year  is to inspire one to live in a more intentional way. So, I was thinking this would be easy, I’d come up with something like Imagine…which I do ALL THE TIME…or Dream…also something I’m always doing, but the more I read through the exercise by Christine Kane that I was using as a guideline, (she nixed my three word idea in her first paragraph! ), the more I realized I couldn’t  choose something I already do as my word, so that also excluded the words happiness, joy, family, and Dolce Far Niente…(remember from Eat,Pray,Love ( three good words!)”the art of doing nothing”? which I have totally perfected by the way).  Nor could I let the random great words that kept popping into my mind like sassafras (a GREAT word) or whirligig (another fun word to say)  be my guiding word for 2013!

Photo by Elizabeth Atalay

This is an especially tough task for a logophile like myself, who has a journal of words I write down when I come across ones I love or need to look up as I read. Of course I checked this journal only to find selections like coruscating or effulgent  among other good words, but again, not “guiding” words I’d like to live my life by.   Although Wanderlust is my favorite word, and was the word I lived by for many years, it is not the word I’m looking for now. The word Actualize, was one of the first I came up with last week, and it kind of stuck with me throughout… it embodied my desire to bring to fruition all of the projects that I have in my mind.   I also liked that it could be attached to the word self-, as in self-actualizaion to mean being your best self, ala Oprah. I mean, who doesn’t want that, right?  But the word Actualize itself was too neutral for me, a bit dry. “To make actual or real”.  I needed something that tipped more towards happiness, serendipity, so I tortured my friends and family for the past week throwing around random words.   Synergy, Zen, Fulfill, Elucidate, enrichment, Believe, Bloom, Inspire, Fusion, and so on….which I’m sure they LOVED! (not really) Meanwhile, I kept coming back to the idea of actualizing my goals, putting them into action, and when I thought of what that meant, it was to bring my ideas or desires to fruition. In the dictionary Fruition means: The point at which a plan or project is realized, with synonyms of: realization, fulfillment, accomplishment, actualization, attainment,completion, consummation, gratification, materialization,maturity, perfection, pleasure, realization,ripeness, satisfaction, success, and enjoyment.  That all sounds pretty good to me, it means reaching my goals happily, and feeling fulfilled. I mean, what more could a girl want?  So there it is, my word of the year to guide me through 2013 is Fruition, and I can’t wait to see what the wonderful year 2013 will bring!

Photo By Elizabeth Atalay

What is the Word of The Year you came up with? Was it easy for you, or did you struggle like me?

#Inspiringmoms Network is an inspiring collective of social media moms that want to intentionally achieve our very best lives, connect with our inner wisdom, and inspire other moms to live their best lives.