My Word for 2010!

I was recently reading one of my favorite blogs. Why is it one of my faves? She has a big family (and I think that is fun), she is very creative, she is very real, I love her photography, etc...

So I was reading this post of hers, and I was inspired...the premise is to not make a bunch of (or even a few) New Year's resolutions, but instead to choose one word that would sink into every part of my life, becoming my focus for 2010.

I started thinking about this on my own and came up with what I thought I wanted my word to be. But on a longer drive today, I brought the idea up to my husband and asked him what word he would choose. As he was contemplating, I began rethinking my word, wanting to possibly change it to another...

When he was done thinking he asked what my word was and I explained my original word and why I wanted it, but also explained my new word and why I was thinking of changing it...and he laughed. Not because of my words, but because through his thought process he had come up with those very two words, but then ultimately decided on a third word that he felt encompassed the first two words more fully. I laughed too. And I was very excited that we were on the same page with what we want 2010 to look like, and excited that we could have a "family word" and spur each other on.

Sorry if you are in utter suspense now and overly excited to know our "word."

Our first two that we separately came up with were 'simplicity' and 'discipline'. How could we live with more simplicity, how could we simplify our lives, our home, our everyday occurrences and daily routines? How could we be more disciplined in the things we do, in eating better and exercising more regularly, in our relationship with God, in keeping our home in order?

These are all good things, but the third and final word that we decided upon we believe will encompass all of this and more: efficiency. How can we be more efficient with our time, our resources, our bodies? Can we become more efficient because we are simplifying, and can we become more efficient as we learn to be more disciplined? I think so. We think so. So this is our word for 2010, and I feel the need to write it here so that it is in writing somewhere for sure!

Efficiency. Achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort.