Wednesday, January 2, 2013

My Little Word for 2013

One year ago today I chose a word to guide me through 2012. At the time I was facing a lot of struggles but  knew I was strong enough and determined enough to get through them, and flourish.  I needed a word that would keep me grounded and focussed on what was important to me.  My word was CAN.  You can read that post  here.

Now that 2012 has come and gone it's time to check in on how that word met my needs.  If you haven't figured it out already, 2012  was a pretty amazing year for me professionally.  A lot of incredible opportunities came my way and I took full advantage of as many of them as I could. Along the way I struggled with many things too.  Keeping the word CAN at the front of my brain each and every day helped me get through it all.

It's time for me to chose a word for 2013.  I must admit I don't really want to let go of  the word CAN so I don't think I will but it will no longer be my focus word. For 2012 my focus word will be BALANCE.  I think with my professional explosion some where along the way I lost some of my balance.  I have and will always have interests in many different areas in my life. I LOVE to learn. I LOVE to meet new people. I LOVE to share. But sometimes, along the way I get so wrapped up in one area I'm passionate about that I lose balance in others.

This past year I'd have to say I was out of balance. Work was a big part of my world. Now that was not in a bad way, I love what I do, I love spending time learning and getting better at what I'm doing, but I love a lot of other things too.  But to be honest with myself I spent way too much time reading professional books and not enough time reading pleasure books.  I had hours and hours of conversations professionally but not nearly as many personally.  It's a big part of who I am though, I like to do my best and I like to exceed expectations. Those expectations are placed on me by me.  I'm lucky though, really lucky in fact, because I have really fantastic friends and they let me do what I was happy doing.  But I miss being in better balance.  With that in mind in 2013 I will...

  • better BALANCE the time I spend between work and pleasure
  • better BALANCE the time I spend between inside and outside
  • better BALANCE the time I spend between being active and being at rest
  • better BALANCE the time I spend on line and  off line
  • better BALANCE the time I spend between saying YES and saying NO (or at least thinking a bit longer before saying YES so quickly)
  • better BALANCE the number of projects I get my class involved with (not limiting but thinking about before moving forward with them)
  • better BALANCE the foods that I eat - thankfully I really love healthy food but even too much healthy food isn't a good thing.
  • better BALANCE myself.
Now BALANCE doesn't have to mean equal. For me it's much more about being mindful of the choices I make with my life, and when I make certain decisions over and over again at a expense of other decisions.  It's about remembering to have an early night from work after a few late ones. It's about leaving things unfinished, or turning off the computer an hour earlier than normal.  It's about BALANCE.

In 2013 I will do a better job at being in BALANCE.


15 comments:

  1. Karen,
    My favorite line: "Keeping the word CAN at the front of my brain each and every day helped me get through it all." Why I love OLW so dearly.

    Being mindful is key to a happy, healthy life. Which is what I find my one-little-word helps me with in general. I appreciate how you mention the importance of mindfulness in your post!

    I am excited to watch BALANCE unfold in your life, in turn inspiring greatness. You are doing, and will continue doing amazing things. Balance will help you to take care of your self, keep your thoughts fresh, and allow for you to enjoy a variety of #brainspins ;)

    ~Celina

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    1. Thanks Celina. My brain is still hurting from the spinning. Balance for me will require a lot of support from my friends. Mindfulness will be really important too. I have told some of my friends that do not read my blog as a way to ask them for help when they feel I'm getting out of balance. Obviously balance is a person thing but hopefully I'll listen when they speak. Please speak too. I appreciate you voice.

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  2. Ooh... Another one I have to keep in mind... So hard to choose just one...

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  3. Great word, Karen! I too need to keep BALANCE in mind. Thanks for the reminder. I'm with you.

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    1. Thanks Lora. I will need your help to keep balance. I will need EVERYONEs help. Hopefully it's a perk of being a connected educator.

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  4. Karen,
    Keeping balance in our lives is important-not letting one thing or the other rule!
    Hoping you CAN find BALANCE in 2013-
    Happy New Year to you!
    Thanks for being such a great twitter pal and inspiring in so many ways!
    You are so talented-and always with kids best interest in what you do!

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    1. Thanks Amy and right back at you. I love what I do, I push myself hard, and for the most part I have a lot of fun doing it. Having company for the ride is the bonus perk. Thanks for being along for the ride.

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  5. Great word, Karen!

    You have so many wonderful interests in life, I know that you will find time to make them a priority. It won't be easy to carve out the time though, but you already know that. If anyone can do it, you can though, Karen!

    I believe in you!

    Tia

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    1. Thanks Tia. I think part of my problem is that I have trouble making decisions. I can see good in everything too. Thanks for believing in me. Balance is something I really struggle with though. In the past it was the time devote to my Ironman Training. Today it's work. I see a pattern that needs to be changed. All support appreciated.

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  6. Karen, I love how your pursuing balance for yourself and your students! I look forward to learning some balancing ideas from you myself! ~Ann

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    1. Thanks Ann. Great to finally see the other half behind Celina. Totally looking forward to spending more time with you and learning with you.

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  7. Karen - great post and good things to think about. I am so glad I met you last year and look forward to future collaborations in the years to come!

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    1. Likewise Theresa. Balance is a really tough one for me but I'm hoping by putting it out there for the world to see I'll be better at keeping it at the front of my mind. CAN really worked well for me last year. Hopefully balance will too.

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  8. Hi Karen,
    Like so many others have mentioned here, I too, have struggled with the concept of balance in my life. After lots of reflecting and conversations with important people in my life, I've come to the conclusion that the quest for balance is nearly impossible to achieve. Instead, I'm trying to learn to "ride the wave". Sometimes I ride the "teaching wave". Then I have to finish with that wave and ride the "mom wave" focusing on my own kids. Then there's the "wife wave", "friend wave", "daughter wave"...you get the point! I ride so many different waves (like everyone does) and it's close to impossible to ride more than one wave at a time. My goal for this year is to love every wave I ride and ride it with passion and focus.
    It's so great to see you (and others) sharing goals and this is such a fantastic opportunity to learn from each other. I'm excited to see how things progress for everyone this year!

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