2013 Word of the Year: Order

I have decided to choose the word ORDER for my 2013 word. For awhile now I have had the phrase "put your house in order" running through my head. One thing that has happened recently to help me put my affairs in order was the sale of the home that Tyler and I still jointly owned in Provo. Within days of listing we received a full price offer. The deal has been completed and that is one less thing I have to worry about which is a great thing to help me achieve a little more order in my life.

Another thing that brings the word 'order' to mind is this scripture:  27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and ^aorder; for it is not requisite that a man should run ^bfaster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

I want to feel a bit less on the fly and a little more deliberate and calm in 2013. I know that I am great at dealing with things in the moment and changing and adapting as needed, but I crave more stability, and that does not come easily to me.

My 2012 word LISTEN was a good word for me this past year. Something my therapist said to me stands out to me in relation to that word...she said to follow how I feel. That really has made me think a lot. The way I feel often changes. Did that mean if I felt one way at one time but then felt differently later that I needed to hold on to how I felt before or how I felt at present? Pondering what my therapist said helped me realize that listening to how I felt in the present was important! And in 2012 it was very important for me. I changed my plans in a variety of areas... 

At one point I said I would never move to Provo. 

And then, I moved to Provo. 

At one point I said I would never start a photography business. 

And then, I did. 

And so on and so forth. 

I think when I picked this word last year (see here) I imagined that LISTEN would be calmer than it turned out to be. I learned that listening sometimes means doing things that bring upheaval and temporary chaos into my life (such as in the case of moving for example). And sometimes, it brings more calm. In my post last year about my word of the year I wrote that I wanted to have a big party on my birthday since it would be 12-12-12. A big party! That sounds fun and so appropriate for such a monumental birthday right? But then when I listened to how I felt I realized that I didn't want to have a big party after all. What I wanted was to have some cake with my kids. So, that's what I did (and then my mom ended up driving 3 hours to see me on my special day which made it just perfect).

And so a new year begins... (with my kitchen NOT in order! Lots of room to improve:)...that's what happens when I choose to blog over doing the dishes:)

This is the sixth year that I have had the tradition of picking a word to focus on at the beginning of the year. I got the idea from Ali Edwards and you can read more about it on her site here.