Word of the Year

Let's face it:

- Not every desire will be met.

- Not every encounter will end well.

- Not every event will go off without a hitch.

- Not every choice you make will choose you back.

- Life throws us curve balls.

- People make bad choices.

- Our words can slip out sharp and harsh.

- Our hearts are broken.

- People let us down.

- We take on too much.

- We hold in too much.

- We don't say enough.

- We say too much.

- We don't let go.

- We overanalyze, overreact, and get overwhelmed.

- And life is hard.

But sometimes.....

- The way things don't work out are better than if they had.

- Our realities are better than anything we could have ever dreamed up ourselves.

- People we least expect come though in big ways.

- The thing we feared the most becomes a source of strength.

- Our tears of sorrow become tears of joy.

- When we've been stretched until we fear we will break, we see that in reality, we've grown.

- And as hard as life is, it is a beautiful thing too.

My focus word for 2012 is hope. Not the silly, idealistic hope that Cinderella wakes up singing about or stubborn false hope that can't let go or face realities. It is the hope that:

- at the end of a good day, tomorrow will follow suit.

- at the end of a bad day, that mercies are new each day.

- after things didn't go quite as you planned, maybe one day they will.

- gray clouds have silver linings and our realities aren't as gloomy as we thought.

- disappointments will turn to joy.

- our tears will dry and even turn into laughter.

- in the end, it won't just be good. It will be beautiful.

We all need it - especially me. Here's to 2012 - a year of hope.