Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Word of Focus - 2011

My cousin, Lindsey, chooses a word to focus on every year, and inspired me last year to do the same.

I picked "hope" as my Word of the Year for 2010.  It was something I felt like I needed some help with, and that would be good for me to work on.  I had no idea just how much that word would shape my year!  Both choices I made and events outside of my control either strengthened my hope or challenged it.

I've always been a fairly optimistic person, and I came to realize that "looking on the bright side" is more than just waking up with a smile or seeing the glass as half full.  Being hopeful requires you to actively choose a better attitude.  It requires that optimism to be deeply rooted inside you.  Like faith, it serves as a foundation for your thoughts, words, and actions.

This year, I've picked a word that is a weakness for me, hoping that by focusing on it throughout the coming year, I can make it a strength.  These past two years have been so wonderful for me in so many ways, but they have also been difficult as I've worked to undo damage done the previous year.  I am proud of myself for many things!  I've come SO FAR, and most of the time, that tough year of my life just seems like a bad dream!

The past month or so, though, I've realized that I still have some work to to really get rid of some baggage (hopefully) once and for all!

I have a hard time with trust.

I think once you've really had your heart broken and your trust violated, that's a natural consequence.  So is being terrified of being hurt (aren't we all, though).  But being afraid is the opposite of having trust.  Hence the need for me to focus on trust.

trust:
1. confident expectation of something; hope
2. to believe, have faith
3. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, or surety of a person or thing

I think trust is tied closely to hope, and this year will give me the opportunity to build on what I learned last year, and I think will be really good for me!!

I hope to improve my ability to trust other people, and especially to increase my trust (and faith) in my Heavenly Father.

To that end, here is a quote from a talk that President Hinckley gave at his wife's funeral:

"Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us.  If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers" (Ensign, Feb 2006, p. 63).

And one from Elder Holland:

"Some of you may wonder: Is there any future for me?  What does a new year or a new semester, a new major or a new romancs, a new job or a new home hold for me?  Will I be safe?  Will like be sound?  Can I trust in the Lord and in the future?  Or would it be better to look back, to go back, to stay in the past?  To all such of every generation, I call out, 'Remember Lot's wife.'  Faith is for the future.  Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there.  Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the high priest of good things to come (Hebrews 9:11).  Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant and far away.  Live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, of trust and divine love that will transfrom your life today, tomorrow, and forever.  That is a New Year's resolution I ask you to keep" (Ensign, Jan 2010, p. 22-27).

So here's to 2011!  May it be a year of growth, goodness, and greater trust!!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

my words of focus for 2011 are Faith & Charity

1 Corinthians 13:13
Alma 7:24
Moroni 10:20
Doctrine & Covenants 18:19

Post a Comment