If you were to choose a word to represent your values and intentions for the next twelve months, what would it be? 

It’s a growing movement, this idea that a word can be used to guide decisions and inform the way we live our lives. For scrapbookers, life coaches and others who mean to document life or live with greater intention, it’s a tool and something to explore for personal growth and wellness.

I have been thinking about this in the context of my goals, weaknesses and demands for myself  in 2024. It seems that a Word of the Year would be a fun way to keep me on track. 

Most people don’t think about their habits nearly as much as I do but I have this weird Puritanical worldview when it comes to work ethic and self improvement that causes me to think about this stuff frequently. 

After all, humans are the sum of their own habits. If your habit is to cook a nutritious meal after an hour at the gym, you’re likely to be a healthier person than most of us. If you are an impulse spender who shops for entertainment, you’re likely to have some money troubles. 

I used to have good habits. I used to eat a strict diet that made me feel healthy and strong. I used to drink three glasses of water every morning as soon as I got out of bed. Until the time change this fall, I was hiking a couple of times a week. Commitment to habits can ebb and flow with seasons and health. I know what habits make my life better but sticking to them can be a challenge. 

I suspect this is true for most people. 

January marks a new season in my life every year. This is when I start a big project at work and when I do my No Spend Challenge. If you’re not familiar, I have written about it here before and will talk about it again in the next few days. It’s colder and I am perfectly happy to go out in the cold for a nice hike and then come home to get cozy rather than run around a lot as I typically do in warm weather. 

In other words, late December is when I reach out and hit that big ole’ Reset Button and start again for a new year. Life becomes slow and it’s pretty good too. 

Keeping in mind that I have some habits collecting dust like those old home movies in your attic, I’m not really starting over. I’m just dusting them off and carting them into the living room where I can see them. 

So my word of the year is REJUVINATE.

I like this word because it can be applied to most anything. 

I can rejuvenate my good eating habits, my commitment to financial fitness, my devotion to hobbies and even my reading routines. I can rejuvinate my interest in work and in journaling or keeping my home tidy. Some of these habits even work together making rejuvenating habits a big picture, full circle activity. 

When faced with a decision, I will use this word as a kind of yardstick. Does this decision aid my desire to rejuvenate something important to me? 

Clearly, we don’t have the luxury of only doing the things we wish to do. Sometimes we have to do work we don’t like or attend a meeting set around someone else’s schedule. As grown ups, the expectation is that we will do what the rest of the world wants us to do. Let me tell you, the rest of the world will fill up every bit of your time if you let it and that’s not necessarily in your best interest.

REJUVINATE. If you play Scrabble, you’ll know it’s worth twenty points. If you know your Latin, you know that “re” means again and that “juvenis” means young. The word literally means “to make young again.” The online Oxford English Dictionary is pretty helpful in understanding word origins. 

I don’t wish to reinvent the wheel. I mainly want to return to some good habits, to rejuvenate my commitment to things that serve me instead of living a life where my role is to serve everyone else and to just allow things to happen to me rather than fully live my life. 

The more I think about it, the more certain I am rejuvenating habits is a good use of my time right now.

Now that you’ve had time to think about it, tell me in the comments a word you think would make a great Word of the Year for you!