Writing Update: My Word for the Year

Do you set a word for your year?

This is something I’ve started doing with a friend in the past few years. I’ve learned that it helps to stay focused on a topic that I really want to see improvement in each year. Because in the craziness of life, sometimes it helps to narrow down on one topic that I want to focus on.

This year, that topic is priorities.

For some people, their word of the year is some word of encouragement and I think that’s great as well! I’ve discovered that it helps me to pick a word that will motivate me towards being a better person or to work on something that I know needs improvement in my life. In this post I want to talk about my chosen word for this year.

Priorities. Everyone’s will be different. But I feel it’s important to know what yours are. When I first started writing, I always knew that I never, ever wanted my writing to come above my family. But I’ve since learned that there are a few other things that I don’t want to come over my writing.

My top priorities go as follows: God, family, life, writing.

You may be surprised that writing is so far down on that list, but it’s true. I love writing more than most things in life, I need it to live and know that I could never give it up. However, that doesn’t mean that writing is so important to me that it comes above other areas of my life. Or that it should.

God is my number one priority in life. I want to glorify Him with every breath that I live and constantly be growing in my relationship with Him. That is why He is my number one priority.

Nothing on this earth could ever come between my family and I. I love them all to pieces and if there’s the choice between writing or doing something with them… I will always pick doing something with them. My writing won’t be always there when I need it most—but my family will.

And, last of all, life. This has been an area that I’ve been trying to grow in lately. Because I’ve realized that this past year my writing has come above life in many ways. But I don’t want it to. Like Caroline George always says, you can’t write a story until you live a story. I want to live a story every day of my life, and I don’t want my writing to come between that. Because if all I ever do is write, I will get burnt out, but if I put my life above my writing then will never run out of inspiration for my writing.

Last year, my word of the year was balance. I’m not sure if I achieved that or not, but it taught me a lot. That was actually what taught me most of what I’m saying in this post. It taught me that I can’t let my writing come over other areas of my life, and it’s what led to this year’s word being priorities.

Writing is very important to me, I do not want that to be mistaken with what I’m saying here. I dream of the day that I can hold one of my books in print form. Published. *sigh* Just that word gives me chills, y’all. BUT no matter how much this is important to me, I know I would regret chasing my whole life after it. At the end of my life, I want to look back and think of all the adventures I went on, all the fun family moments, and of all the things God orchestrated in my life.

Those are the things that will bring me the most fulfillment in life.

Because even though I believe wholeheartedly that it’s not what you take from this world that brings you joy, but what you bring to it, I also believe that being there for the ones you love most and giving joy to their lives is the greatest gift of life. And it’s what brings me the most joy and fulfillment out of life. Even more than my writing.