word of the year Archives — Thrifty Mommas Tips https://www.thriftymommastips.com/tag/word-of-the-year/ Travel, Health & Family Sun, 12 Jan 2020 22:58:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.6 https://www.thriftymommastips.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/cropped-thrifty_logo_header-32x32.png word of the year Archives — Thrifty Mommas Tips https://www.thriftymommastips.com/tag/word-of-the-year/ 32 32 77340857 The Year of Clarity and Positivity https://www.thriftymommastips.com/the-year-of-clarity-and-positivity/ Mon, 13 Jan 2020 10:45:31 +0000 https://www.thriftymommastips.com/?p=29927 What are your plans and goals this year? Lately, my daughters and some of my friends have been talking about plans for 2020, the year of clarity. 2020 vision equals clarity. Get it? I really like that metaphor for the new year and the new decade. Perhaps, this decade will be one of clarity. One daughter has a goal to drink more water and frankly that’s clearly a goal I am all about. I think that’s a great ongoing goal for me, but I am already doing well there, so it’s not really my resolution. That same daughter, who has anxiety disorder, has a goal to be less hard on herself. I love that she’s given this some serious thought. My Year of Clarity Was Slow to Start January is inevitably a time for fresh starts, new beginnings and more. This year, the weather has been a hot mess, so my goal of skiing ALL THE DAYS, has been put on hold. Of course, that is just a hopeful sort of goal that I can work towards, but not control because of weather and other obligations and even health. It’s more like a dream than a goal and I will work on making it happen, because I love to ski. By the time you read this, we will all be used to a new year and a new decade. Hopefully, all of the Christmas decorations and presents are put away by now. I confess it took us until this past weekend to get everything away. So much for being super organized and clean slates.  But, if I am taking a page out of my daughter’s book this year, then I need to also go a bit easier on myself and simply accept that we got busy. Better late than never is my family philosophy often.   Clarity Has Been Slow in Coming This Year Some years it takes me longer than others to arrive at a word of the year. In fact, I kind of wait for a word to make sense for me and this year it didn’t until this past week. This year, the clarity has been slow. Maybe New Year’s resolutions are more your cup of tea. Maybe, like me, you choose a ‘Word of the Year’ to guide your vision or philosophical approach to the months ahead. Last year my ‘Word of the Year’ was Reach as in Stretch and work towards building new business relationships and streams of income. My 2019 Goals In 2019, I set a goal of getting more bylines in traditional magazines again, in addition to the online content and social media consulting business plus content marketing business, because diversifying was part of my vision and it was how I interpreted Reach. So, I did. That was a SMART goal for me that worked. You know SMART goals, right? Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Bylines and pitching outlets seems time consuming, but it is necessary in my business. This is an area where I do have clarity and positivity. My Past Words of the Year  Grow and Travel are words I have chosen in other years. A couple of years ago MOVE was the word and I committed to that, going to the gym 5 days a week and skiing or swimming all the days possible. This has worked for me every single year, except for that one year when I chose Mindfulness. Turns out being mindful on a daily basis IS extremely challenging. I might need to revisit that one at some point, but definitely not this year. In 2020, my word of the year is Positivity and Clarity. Clarity is focus despite the other events and details that threaten to cloud your vision. I choose clarity and positivity. Will 2020 be Your Year of Clarity? Being positive when the world around you is negative is a strength and an art. I struggle at times, but I am a silver lining kind of person. There has to be a reason, or something positive, about every situation. That’s not being Pollyanna at all. It’s more about strength and survival and being able to carry on when the world seems to be uncaring, or indifferent, or hard. So, this year I am actively choosing positivity, even when health care and schools are failing my special needs child, when my email inbox is filled with terrible belligerent offers asking me to write for free I will work to stay positive while telling them what they are doing wrong. When my teens are being a big pain in the butt with their teenage mood swings and occasional inability to see other people’s viewpoints, I will also be positive, because it is a phase. And most especially, when I feel overwhelmed by bills that can’t be paid fast enough. Positivity. What do you believe in or measure every year? Is there a moment at the start of the year where you say to yourself: This year I resolve to read more? Or This Year I Will Drink More Water? Word of the Year or Resolution? Whatever your thing – Word of the Year, Vision Board, Resolution – when the intention is about self improvement and even sometimes making the world a better place, then I am all about that. I wish you success and clarity this year and this decade ahead.

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]]> 29927 How My Word of The Year Became a Matter of Life or Death https://www.thriftymommastips.com/how-my-word-of-the-year-became-a-matter-of-life-or-death/ Wed, 13 Jun 2018 10:21:53 +0000 https://www.thriftymommastips.com/?p=20718 “I wish Dad was younger,” my daughter said driving home from a play rehearsal the other night. “If you think about it he could be 70 when I am in my 20s.” Math is not usually our conversation on the drive home. Neither is life or death. But here we are. Often I have to wonder how their minds work. “I wish you were younger too. I mean if you think about it you could both be dead before I’m 40.” Oh my god my head hurts some days keeping up with this kid. But I get it. It’s a fear of dying and every child has that to a certain degree. Life or death questions and anxiety about loved ones are common concerns for kids. I guess something prompted that today. Who knows the whys and hows anymore. Certainly I recall being concerned myself at that age that my Mom would die and then we’d be on our own. When you are a powerless child these life or death matters are worrisome. Sometimes I try to recall how did my Mom handle that? For sure I was a shy introverted child and I worried my single parent Mom and anchor to the world would die suddenly. So, how did she handle it? I have a will, she’d say. In that unlikely event, then your guardians are Uncle Doug and Aunt Pat. When we adopted our girls we had a will drawn up and we appointed guardians too. This she knows and I repeat it.   Funny how all children seem to have common questions and worries. 35 to 40 years after I questioned life or death and my place in the world my daughter does the same. And since nobody has discovered the Fountain of Youth yet or the cure for death, here we are. Building assurances and safeguards. Reality is that this is the child who prompted me to get fit. From the moment she arrived she was on the go. And so we were also busier than I could have ever imagined, from the second she started rolling and walking. So, I made it my mission. While she was always loveable, she was also hard work at times. Exhausting running after her, keeping her safe and advocating for her all the time. Many things you control as a parent and adult. Many things you do not. I control how much I move and what I eat. And I can control the effort I put into self care, health and wellness. There are both benefits and downsides to being a parent in your mid 30s, late 30s or 40s. You often have a career and a means to raise a child because you worked hard to get there. But as we know fertility is often more challenging after 30 so it’s not like you always get to choose when to start your family. As was the case with us. Anyhow I was mid 30s when we adopted Ainsley. Not that old by today’s standards. But add in the history of health issues such as Crohn’s Disease and a happy little Payton in the house as well. We were busy. And I was most certainly anything but fit before I became a parent. In fact I was acutely ill awaiting surgery when we got the call that we’d been matched with a baby girl.   This is exactly what my word of the year MOVE is all about this year. My motivation. Is moving a matter of life or death? Sometimes it’s a matter of sanity. And a matter of clarity and energy and choices I make. This is the history of why and how I got fit and chose healthy living and chased better abs and stronger hamstrings and calves and endurance at every single turn. It’s why I learned how to downhill ski in my 40s and it’s why I change it up occasionally embracing a different sport or style of yoga, pilates or weights. Fitness, health, movement are not optional.   Back to our conversation. Me – “Yes we could be 70 when you are 40. That is true.” Ainsley – “Just saying I wish you were younger.” Me – “But I am the most fit I have ever been. Partly because of you.” I work out five days a week, often leaving my home office to go to the YMCA for yoga or Centergy noon hour classes. Same can be said for my husband, a second degree brown belt now. Before you, we were less motivated to get fit. Who knows if we’d be fit, or skiers, swimmers, or martial artists at all if we’d never met you, or adopted you and become your parents. You changed us. That was and continues to be one heck of a gift. This is why I move. Why my word of the year is my lifestyle for 2018 and beyond.

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