Word of the year 2021- “Cherish”

Having a word of the year is a practice that I started last year. And I found it to be very impactful. I could bring in the shift that I started this practice with. It helped me bring in the change I wanted.

So what is word of the year? It basically implies a word that would indicate a major change or shift that you would want to bring in all areas of your life. It acts as a constant reminder of what is important to you, a sort of mindfulness in your actions. Some people also have this practice has a part of their monthly intentions.

So first I will talk about my last years word of the year and how it helped me. My word of the year in 2020 was compassion. I wanted to have more compassion for my family and also myself. Also I wanted to bring a shift in how I see other people. I wanted to be compassionate instead of being judgmental or even be upset of the behavior of people around. Compassion I have realized is a powerful force. Compassion is complementary to love I feel. It is important that we feed our love with compassion, else there are chances that love centers around oneself.

Having this constant reminder was extremely helpful to me during the last year. I could connect so much better with my daughter. And also I think now I am more compassionate in particular to my family and in general to all of world. I can act and respond from a place of compassion.

Given the COVID condition last year and the lockdown, we hardly stepped out. There was no school for Myra. This word of year actually was perfect for the previous year. And it came in very handy at all those time where I could feel being overwhelmed.

Coming to 2021…. my word for this year is “CHERISH”

Now the big WHY? The last year has been hard on all of us. It taught us many a things. Most of all it taught us that things and people that we so often take for granted in our life, could not be present the very next. Stepping out of house was something we always took for granted. We also too for granted all the entertainment the malls, parks etc were. We took for granted the friends we could drop in at any time. Many of us lost our loved ones, relations we must have at some point taken for granted.

So my biggest lesson from last year was to enjoy and more importantly cherish with deep sense of gratitude all the beautiful things we are blessed with.

For example my daughter is at home, it gets tough at times with hardly any friends and no school. I hardly get time to work on my things. Me time is scarce and precious. But I also in my heart at some point wanted to homeschool her, this was god’s way of telling me that do it. I cherish these days with her at home.

How to connect with your word of year

I remind myself of my word of the day as a part of my morning practice every day. I also have it on my desktop and around my work area. I have a morning practice of workout, yoga and meditation. I always follow up these with setting an affirmation for the day. Word of the year also comes in handy when I am struggling with my emotions or overwhelemed. A reminder to cherish the blessings in my life helps me feel centred and grateful.

Some people also keep different words for the different areas of life that they had like to work on. Say a different intention for family another for your work and something else for your own personal growth, health etc.

Take the idea from here and extend it to suit and resonate with you. But definitely do give it a try.

I know my post is a bit late… almost a month late. But it is never late to make a beautiful start to a healthy practice. So sit down and think of some words that define what is important to you. Choose a word that you want to focus on. You can of course have more than one word too. Or do the activity mid year. Or have a monthly intention.

I would love to hear what is your word of the year and if you have been practicing this too and how you feel about it.

Also do try out this beautiful printable I created. It has a list of words to help you choose a word of the year. But yes even better if you follow what comes from your heart, though a list is helpful. It also has sheets to write your word of the year and put it up somewhere. I have also included a similar sheet for word of month.