I wasn't certain I would be able to articulate a theme for this new year. This may be the most trouble I have had with deciding on a yearly theme in quite some time. I had several thoughts jotted down on paper, nothing seemed to fit or feel right. Some of those thoughts were: anti-fragile, resilient, purposeful pursuits, joy, peace, love, hope, renewal, authentic living, live laugh & uplight, the lyrics from Landslide and She Used to Be Mine, curiosity. That is a lot of broad strokes, but I want to create a beautiful landscape and not abstract art. I like my themes to be meaningful and provide focus and direction. All of my broad strokes can be meaningful and guide my steps; the problem was finding a way to encapsulate all of those thoughts into a word or two.
Authentic Purpose
Authentic is defined as being actually and exactly what is claimed. Authentic implies trustworthy. Being authentic is to be one's self.
Purpose is the central motivating aims of your life. Purpose is why you do something or whe something exists. It is intention.
I had settled on Authentic Purpose before I looked up the official definitions, but reading the meaning behind those two words makes me feel all the more convinced that this is my theme for 2024. All those random ideas, or at least most of them, and several of my personal goals for the year can be bundled together and wrapped up in authentic purpose. I want this year to be one of personal growth, knowing what I have to offer the world and living authentically in that pursuit. I do not know much about having some grand and glorious purpose, but I do know that I love to encourage and uplift and need to do that more and more intentionally. This theme won't always be an easy task, because authenticity walks hand in hand with vulnerability and I do not enjoy being so exposed, and so I think that this year's theme might be my most ambitious one yet. But I do love a challenge!
Along with my theme, I also have some goals for the year. As always, some of my goals are easily measurable, like taking part in specific powerlifting competitions and achieving new personal bests for my lifts, growing more produce in my fledgling garden, and tackling some household projects. But there are other goals not so easily proven successful or failures, although I suspect that I will have no trouble knowing if I am living up to most of these goals. Sometimes results speak in ways that we can't understand until some distance down the road.
A little more than a week ago I felt defeated and depressed, but today I feel alive and hopeful and excited. I think 2024 is going to be a good year.
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