2016 Word of the Year: Patience

Around the first of January circa 2014, I came up with a word of the year instead of resolutions.  I don’t believe in resolutions.  Mostly because I never stick to them.  Maybe for a month but never long enough to affect change.  But I could do a word of the year.  A word that would guide me and help me grow as a person and help me live a life I love.  I didn’t choose a word of the year last year because…um…utter chaos!  2015 was the year Colby and I lived states apart, frantically finished remodeling our old house, and moved to Vermont (you can read more about our moving story here).

Two years ago, I chose “Intentional” as my word of the year, and honestly, we lived intentionally this past year.  It was living intentionally that drove us to pick up and move to Vermont to be closer to family.  And living intentionally drove me to land my dream job in higher education marketing.

I decided to bring back the word of the year for 2016.  My word of the year…drum roll, please…PATIENCE.

Runner’s up were “Let it Go” (too Frozen-like), “Roll Wit’ It” (too much like my running playlist), and “Slow” (too boring).

I am not the world’s most patient person.  I hate red lights.  I cruise through house projects.  I don’t always enjoy the ride.  I strive for results.  When I want things done, I want things done, even if they’re beyond my control.  So this year, I am teaching myself to be patient while continuing to live life with intention.

When it comes to house projects and renovations, I vow to slow down and enjoy the process.  To take my time and make sure we’re making the right choices, especially with the bigger projects like remodeling the first-floor bathroom (more on that later…there’s a reason you haven’t seen much about bathroom progress since we ripped out that weird wall in the middle of it).  I vow to wait for the right rug at just the right price for the dining room and save up for said rug instead of buying a cheaper one I can afford now that I’m not as in love with.  It’s much easier practicing patience in our new home, a home we consider our forever home, versus our last one, which we always knew deep down was a flip.

Above is a pic of the kitchen in our first home.  Sadly, a kitchen I never really got to use it since we finished remodeling it days before selling the house.

When it comes to life, I also want to practice patience.  I want to encourage myself to be patient while we’re striving towards those life goals.  To remind myself that big things don’t happen overnight.  That if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be so just sit back and relax.  Thankfully, Colby is the world’s most patient man and the voice of reason and calm to my full-speed-ahead-bring-on-the-chaos mentality.  Here’s hoping he rubs off on me!  Maybe if I just hold his hand more I can learn patience through osmosis.  Worth a try.

I’m hoping twelve months from today I’ll look back and say I practiced patience.  That house project still got done.  That I finished one project before jumping to the next.  That I took time and completed projects the right way and as high quality as possible.  That I saved my pennies for a couple of big-ticket items that I was drooling over instead of selling out for the cheaper item that I didn’t like as much.

So bring it 2016.  Let’s see what you got!

Pssst…Did you guys make any resolutions this year?  Or pick a word of the year?  Or even a song of the year?  I briefly debated picking a song of the year.  I’m feeling the Montgomery Gentry song “Roll With Me.”