January Word of the Month

Happy New Year!  How far into January can you go before saying "Happy New Year" is old, worn out, and an embarrassment?  These are things I think about....I can't help it.

As my first REAL post of the year (Flash Mob Mondays really don't count, don't you think?) I decided to choose the January WOM.  Just think, the first of at least 12 words this year!  That puts the pressure on to choose the perfect word.  After all, this word will set the pace for all the others to follow.  I have mentally gone through a long list of words that I could use and expound upon.  You know, the usual words everyone likes to say at the beginning of the New Year.....inspire, motivate, believe, create, challenge, order, change, courage, understanding, patience, family, tradition,  etc., etc.  And since I am a rebel at heart, I cannot, I refuse, to choose one of these overused, overworked, under applied words for the initial WOM for 2011.  Oh, the agony to pick just the right one.  I cannot let my readers down, but more importantly, I cannot let myself down by choosing a mediocre word.  I have put my thinking cap on.

We have just come out of the jolliest season, by far, filled with the joys and, yes, stresses indicative of the holidays. Then comes New Year's with its fresh starts and what lies ahead.  But by the end of February to middle March, the winter doldrums set in.  There are stains of life already on the once crisp pages of the not-so-long-ago newly unread book of the year.  Resolutions are forgotten or abandoned either on purpose or by fate. All our good intentions for the New Year have vanished or are sore reminders of just how human we are.  Most of the things that we anticipated that we could or would or should do lie in remnants in our soul and mind.

Here's the thing - I like that feeling of what may be coming down the pike.  It's like planning a good vacation or a major purchase of something you have wanted for a very long time. Anticipation of good things is similar to daydreaming or that comforting lull in your head moments before you drift off to sleep. There are times when the anticipation is as good as the actual thing you are looking forward to.

So, as you are suspecting, ANTICIPATE is my January 2011 Word of the Month.   Anticipation, at least the kind I am writing of, is defined as " the act of looking forward; especially : pleasurable expectation."  I like the "pleasurable" part of that definition.  

I am full of anticipation for what lies ahead this year and in my life.  I anticipate getting to my goal weight.  I anticipate discovering I can do lots of things I thought were long past.  I anticipate hiking more of the Appalachian Trail and the Pine Mountain Trail, as well as climbing Stone Mountain. 

I anticipate going to a "hike-in" inn and staying the night. 

I anticipate reading good books, participating in some craft blog swaps, making new friends through those swaps and enjoying old friends in a variety of ways.  I anticipate learning new, creative, and unusual things, many I hope to share with all of you.  I anticipate that I will have lots to confess to on my Confessional Fridays!  

I anticipate treasuring my family. 

I anticipate going to Hilton Head in the summer with my Fab 5 and having lots of fun. 

I anticipate getting together with my sisters in Nashville and having a blast! 



 
I anticipate finding opportunities to learn and grow, to savor and share, to enjoy and to put into practice, and oh, to scrapbook!!!!

Are there things you are anticipating?  I hope you are....Looking forward to something is half the fun!  Please share with me in the comments below ANYTHING you may be anticipating in your future, near or far!