The past few weeks have been incredibly hectic. My granddaughter’s first birthday (complete with birthday party), Christmas, two visits from my son and his family, and getting ready to move to a different community in early January, along with my normal tasks and responsibilities, have kept me very busy.

When I could find a few minutes here and there, I turned my attention to selecting my “one word” for 2021. 

As I explained in an earlier post (Just One Word), my “one word” represents what I hoped to develop or cultivate in my life in the coming year. The entire year. 

I had to choose just the right word.

I brainstormed a list Thanksgiving weekend and kept it close at hand in my bullet journal. Over the following weeks, I added some words and marked through others. I journaled and doodled and prayed. 

And finally, last Wednesday, I had my word. 

Authenticity

I was going to share my word here on the blog last Thursday, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. 

You see, every time someone I know or a character in a book I’m reading says that they realized one day when their children had grown that they no longer knew who they were, I cringe. I’m not very philosophical, and the whole “finding who I am” or “rediscovering who was before I was a wife/husband and parent” sounds so . . . well, cliched, that I felt somewhat hypocritical explaining why I chose authenticity as my focus in 2021.

I tried — quite hard, actually — to come up with another word. 

But I simply could not walk away from that word. Authenticity.

And then I realized something that made it crystal clear that this is the right word for me.

It’s not that I “don’t know who I am”.  I know exactly who I am. 

But all too often, my choices, actions, speech, activities, and so on do not reflect who or what I claim — and know myself — to be.

I haven’t deliberately chosen to be inauthentic.

 

It’s just that for far too long I haven’t made the effort to be intentional in what I say, think, and do.

And that is something I want to rectify in 2021.

I don’t know where this journey toward intentional authenticity will lead me; I don’t know what the consequences of authenticity will be. 

But I’m excited at the prospect of finding out.

 

As you look ahead to 2021, what do you plan to focus on? What do you hope to have more of, to develop, in your life? What, if anything, do you hope to eliminate? Join in the discussion via a comment.

In 2021, my Wednesday Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter posts will focus on authenticity (#wednesdayword). Social media posts (Patti Miinch on all sites) on other days, as well as this blog, will continue to focus on various aspects of Prime Time Living. I hope you’ll follow me at all three places and join in the conversation.