Acceptance - 2023

In reflecting and selecting my word for 2023, “Acceptance” felt like a natural choice. 

Accepting and meeting others where they are at.

Accepting and loving myself as I am.

Accepting a difficult reality.

Accepting a challenge.

Accepting help.

Accepting praise, feedback, and different points of view.

Accepting new opportunities. Deciding what one cannot - and will not - accept.

Acceptance isn’t about giving up, or surrendering. It’s about getting perspective, and making a decision that is best for you at that time.

 

Acceptance supports us in making good choices. When we get thrown a curveball, it helps us move forward towards new goals instead of getting stuck in muck of regret or disappointment. 

The longer I live, the more I’ve come to accept that things rarely go the way we imagine. While we may get blown off course from time to time, we may also end up somewhere more beautiful than we dared to dream.

"I think tolerance and acceptance and love is something that feeds every community."
~~ Lady Gaga

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Australia 2008

One Little Word 2022

Twenty Twenty Two marks my 14th year of choosing one little word for the year.

My word for this year is FORWARD.

Words carry tremendous power, words spoken or thought produce actual physical vibrations.

When we think or repeat one word over and over it can directly impact our lives.

That's why I choose one little word (OLW) every year instead of making New Year resolutions.

OLW primes the brain to search for the positive and expands our consciousness to look for the blessings that already exist.

"Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace"
~~ Buddha

One Little Word - 2020

Since 2009 I have been choosing a single word to focus on over the course of the next 12 months.

Ali Edwards initiated this movement called "One Little Word".

It's a powerful way to set an intention for the year ahead.

This year my word will be "HEART".

OLW 2016 - LISTEN

Each January I choose a word to focus on for the year. For 2016 my word is LISTEN.

Relating to my word, I came across this beautiful story narrated by the prominent Buddhist teacher and Psychologist Jack Kornfield. It touched my soul and I felt I needed to share it with my blogging friends.

"In Africa. There is a story that illustrates the quality of listening that can come through meditation.

In a particular East African tribe or village when a child is born they don't count the birthday of that child from the day the child comes from its mother’s body or even the day it is conceived as in certain other cultures, but rather from when that child was first a thought in its mothers mind, that is the real birthday.

And as soon as the mother realizes that she would like to have a child with this particular partner, she will go off and sit out in a field under a tree, and listen, and wait until she can hear the song of the child that wants to be born in her heart that will come from the wedding or the coming together with this particular man.

And when she hears this song, she sings it to herself, and then returns back to the village and teaches it to her partner so that when they make love together, joined together in love, they sing this song and invite this child to be born.

And later as she is pregnant. She sings the song to the child in the womb and teachers it to midwives so that when the child is born the first song or sound that it hears is those gathered around singing its own unique song.

And as the child grows the people of the village learn the song of this person so that when he falls or she falls and hurts herself someone picks her up and sings her song to her, or in the rites of passage or rituals of the village the song is sung, the wedding ceremony where both songs are sung until finally even at the end of life, the song of this child now as an old man or women is sung for the last time, and say their last words...

When I first heard the story in it touched in me a longing to live in a place where we heard one anothers songs, where we were so in tune with ourselves and with one another that we could greet each other in that way, to meditate allows us to hear the song within ourselves and to be respectful and hear the song of those around us."
~~ Jack Kornfield

Do you know your song? Can you hear the song of others?

Take the time to listen.

"Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. When we really listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other. We are constantly being re-created."
~~ Brenda Ueland

This gorgeous pig and I became friends when I visited the Philippines in October 2015, we talked and listened to each other every day.

Continuing the Tradition - My 2015 One Little Word is.......CONNECTING

Every year since 2009 I have picked a WORD for the New Year—as a sort of beacon to guide me through the coming 12 months. This word will help me focus on what I am looking to be, do, feel and stand for in the next 12 months.

For me, 2015 will be a year about CONNECTING.

Connecting more deeply with myself, my inner truth, my authentic self, others, community, love, passion, my own heart and soul.

Connecting even more with the feeling that not only is being good enough, it’s the only person I can be anyhow. Feeling like I need to be more like others just leaves me feeling like I'm not being who I NEED to be to fulfil my purpose.

Connecting with that deep part of me that can help me let go of some of those unrealistic expectations and external standards that don’t equal success for me.

I feel excited to see where my journey with this Word "Connecting" takes me.

How about you my fellow bloggers.  Do you have a Word for 2015?

My One Little Word from previous years were:
2009 - BALANCE
2010 - SEEK
2011 - SHARING
2012 - PERSEVERANCE
2013 - SURRENDER
2014 - DETERMINATION

“Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.”
~~ Deepak Chopra

Newtown, Sydney, Australia 29 October 2014.
I am holding up my "Free Hugs" sign under this wonderful quote.

Determination - My One Little Word for 2014

This word sprung to mind a couple of days ago whilst I was in the shower.

DETERMINATION I said out loud, OH YES that will be my word for 2014.

I'm determined to be the best I can

I'm determined to find at least one positive thing every day

I'm determined to live a full life.

I can already feel the power of this word, it encompasses everything as the definition says:

Firmness of purpose; resolve; the act of making or arriving at a decision; the act of deciding definitely and firmly.

In 2009, four Blog friends and myself began a tradition of choosing one word each for ourselves in January - a word that we can focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon as we go about our daily lives.

My One Little Word from previous years were:
2009 - BALANCE
2010 - SEEK
2011 - SHARING
2012 - PERSEVERANCE
2013 - SURRENDER

These words have each become a part of my life in one way or another.

They've been embedded into who I am, and into who I'm becoming.

They've been what I've needed (and didn't know I needed).

They've helped me to breathe deeper, to see clearer and to grow.

I have come to believe a single word can be a powerful thing.  It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything.  It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow.

From my own personal experience, it can be a catalyst for enriching your life!

So forget the New Year resolution and select ONE LITTLE WORD to serve as your guide throughout the year.

“We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history.” 
~~ Sonia Johnson

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney, November 2013 by Ken Unsworth

My Word for 2013 - Surrender

Every year, I choose (or am led to, really) a single word-concept that will be the overall focus for the coming year.  For 2013 my word for the year will be SURRENDER.

I've been doing this for five years now, and it's a very interesting process. Generally, the things experienced and learned for a given word-concept are ongoing, that is, it's not like the moment the calender swings over, everything to do with that word-concept just stops. It's more like planting seeds, which grow into plants, which keep growing and blossoming and bearing fruit, although the focus changes to some new plant.

In our Western culture, SURRENDER has often been synonymous with LOSING. As in, poor you, you gave in, you gave up, you great big LOSER. Wars are created because the parties involved just couldn't let go, forgive, give in, release.

Surrendering is never seen as winning, in this way of looking at things. Non-resistance is seen as weakness, along with gentleness and passivity. The concepts of honour and saving face rule over all. People are more afraid of losing than of dying horribly and violently.

In 2013 instead of being caught up in what could be, what should be, or holding on to shouldas, couldas and wouldas, I'm simply going to attempt to surrender more to what is.  An alternative word could have been acceptance, but acceptance is done superficially each and every day.  To surrender seems more profound and purposeful, which is precisely why I need to do it more often.

How about you my fellow bloggers? Do you have a word for 2013?

"If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments"
~~  Anne Morrow Lindbergh

This photo was taken at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney in 2008 and made into a Scrapblog.
The artist Steinunn Thorarinsdottir from Iceland called the sculpture "Presence"

A Change of Mindset and Perseverance

The world most of us live in is hectic, fast-paced, fractured, hurried.
What’s more, most of us are conditioned to think this is the way life should be.

Life should be lived at break-neck speed, we believe. We risk our lives in cars and we break the speed limit, rushing from one place to another. We do one thing after another, multi-tasking and switching between tasks as fast as we can blink.

All in the name of productivity, of having more, of appearing busy, to ourselves and to others.

But life doesn't have to be this way. In fact, I’d argue that it’s counterproductive.

If our goal is to create, to produce amazing things, to go for quality over quantity, then rushing is not the most effective way to work. Slowing down and focusing is always more effective.

Rushing produces errors. It’s distracting to flit from one thing to the next, with our attention never on one thing long enough to give it any thought or create anything of worth.

Hurrying produces too much noise to be able to find the quiet the mind needs for true creativity and profound thinking.

So yes, moving quickly will get more done. But it won’t get the right things done.

The most important step is a realization that life is better when you move at a slower, more relaxed pace, instead of hurrying and rushing and trying to cram too much into every day. Instead, get the most out of every moment.

Is a book better if you speed read it, or if you take your time and get lost in it?

Is a song better if you skim through it, or if you take the time to really listen?

Is food better if you cram it down your throat, or if you savour every bite and really appreciate the flavour?

Life is better when unrushed. And given the fleeting nature of this life, why waste even a moment by rushing through it?

As this is my first post for 2012, it brings to mind my Word of the Year.

This year I have chosen Perseverence. I am hoping that when life's obstacles cross my path I will be able to focus on the positive and keep on keeping on.

"When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."
~ Author Unknown


My inspiring friend Dianne, who spent Christmas and New Year in hospital does not know the meaning of "give up", she lives in hope for her cancer ridden body to be healed so she can enjoy her grandchildren Joseph and Charlie for many years to come. - Photo taken Manly Hospital 24 December 2011

Turning Pain Into Knowledge

Sometimes when I think back on various phrases of my life, it’s hard not to think of all the hurt.

The misunderstandings, the pain, the missed connections. The ways that I screwed up.

The residual frustration about all the ways that other people - weren’t able to be the people I wanted them to be, which by the way is not their fault!

All that time spent being annoyed about how hard it is when you "can’t get blood from a stone".

My focus was in the wrong place.

But here’s what the Word of the Year reminds me to do:

I am allowed to have my grief and my pain. And I can also look at all that agony and remember that it’s business school tuition.

Instead of a diploma, I can just frame the Word of the Year and put it on my wall. And look forward to the next one, because it will be unbelievably useful.

We all have our stuff. We’re all working on our stuff. It’s a process.

We let people have their own experience, and we don’t give unsolicited advice.


"Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge."
~~ Lao Tzu


Spent a lovely day with Charlie and Joseph on 13 April 2011. We caught a ferry from Manly to the city and Charlie who is not quite seven took this photo of the seagull landing near where we were sitting.