One Little Word : June 2010

My one little word for 2010 is story.

From the very beginning my word has had a slightly different meaning for me than you might think. When I first wrote about it back in January I talked about the obvious idea documenting stories from yesterday & today but I also hinted at my deeper truth: "One of the biggest things is that I have a couple threads in my own
story that I would like to weave in a different direction."

The real truth is that I chose the word story because I wanted to focus on changing my story.

My secret word for 2010 been athlete.

My journey so far this year has been about finding a piece of myself that's been missing since I stopped being an athlete when I left the pool in 1994. I was done with the practices, done with the competition, done with the time it took away from all the other things I wanted to be doing in college.

For many years I didn't miss it at all. Not one little bit.

After Anna was born I started to wonder what it would be like to be an athlete as a full-fledged adult. What would my life be like if I took the time to exercise and got in shape and liked the feel of myself in my own skin again? What if I could get to the place of seeing myself as an athlete again? I began having visions of myself as a super fit grandma. I liked the idea of myself as a positive fitness role-model for my kids.

I decided I wanted to make a change in the way my story was being written.

Since January, in ways little and big, I've been returning to this unfinished piece of my own story. A chapter I want to continue and add to in the years to come.

Most of the action steps in changing my story have been small. They've been little daily choices to get up and get out and move my body again. Some days and weeks I'm successful and others, not so much. So much of it for me is a mental game.

I've gotten back in the pool. I've bought a road bike. I've started running (with some serious daily support from Cathy). And I registered to participate in the Danskin Sprint Triathlon in Seattle in August. Crazy? Yes, totally. I found that for me I needed something to aim for, something to move towards, in order to start making the changes I want to see in my story. I am finding that I love the variety of swimming, biking and running so much more than when it was all swimming all the time.

Really, I just want to show up and participate.

So that's where I'm at with my word right now. My words in years past have been undercurrents, with less real-world action. They have ebbed and flowed with me throughout the year and existed as a place for me to come back to when I felt like I am drifting too far off my path. This year has been different in a really good way for me at this time in my life. I am on my way...

If you left your word back in January or February or whenever, you can always reconnect with it. You can also always choose a new word. It's never too late.

Anyone else happen to have a secret word you are ready to share? Or a
new word that evolved out of your initial word?

My 8x8 Rejoice photobook arrived in the mail from Shutterfly yesterday. I love it. And more importantly, Simon and Anna went nuts over it. It was all about the photos. Going to make a couple extra copies for a few other people I love.

You can view my completed book here and purchase the layered template package through Designer Digitals here.