Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Resist--My One Word for 2017

It has been a few years since I have chosen a single word to capture my resolutions at the beginning of a new year, but as 2017 dawns I feel unmoored and in need of an anchor.  To that end, I chose the world "resist": to withstand the actions or effects of something either inside or outside oneself.  
I will resist the suggestion that I accept as normal what is happening politically in my country.  I am too young to personally recall the Duck and Cover drills from childhood school days, but not too young to realize that we are smart to be wary of Russia.  I am not so naive as to think it is an ordinary day when the incoming leader of the Free World says we ought to "get on with our lives" rather than investigate fully what our long-time adversary has done to us, and so I resist.  
I will resist the temptation to trust that someone else has their eye on things.  I will resist the urge to bury my head, to be lazy and uneducated about current events.  
I will resist the coarsening of our culture, the trend towards meanness directed at those who are different.  I will remain firm in my understanding that Jesus said how we treat the least of these directly correlates to how we treat Him.  I am clear that in our society the least of these are the very groups that have been maligned over the course of the last year, and I will offer resistance to this type of speech and behavior.  
I will resist the temptation to ignore the signs of aging and the toll they take on my health becoming more actively engaged in healthy eating and movement.  
I will acknowledge the feelings I have as we move into this new year.  Every day I remain aware of the disappointment I feel that we as a nation did not stand with one unified voice to declare that we are better than the petty, mean-spiritedness of 2016;  that disappointment could harden me making me bitter, but I will resist.


 One Word




3 comments:

  1. Resist is a good theme choice. For physical wellness to resist the downward pull of aging aspect, may I highly recommend either beginner yoga or a stretch/flex class? Made a world of difference for me!

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  2. I have experimented with a couple different videos of this type. Haven't found the one I will stick with yet. But I absolutely want to go down this path for both lower anxiety and greater flexibility.

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  3. I will join you in resisting that bitterness 2016 brought our country. But your word will have to withstand 4 years and I'm going to try REALLY hard to hang onto it!

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Penny for your thoughts.