| | Published January 1st, 2014
| Lamorindans Share 'One Word' for the New Year
| | By Amanda Kuehn |  | |
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What if one word could change your sense of self? Your meaning and purpose? Your life as you know it? That is the premise behind "My One Word," a book by authors Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen that encourages its readers to forego the long list of New Year's resolutions and instead focus on one word that summarizes the changes they wish to make and the ways in which they hope to grow in the coming year. The one word theory simplifies the resolution process by focusing a whole year of transformational hopes into a few simple syllables.
When asked to make an attempt at narrowing their resolutions down to a one-word goal, a few members of the Lamorinda community came up with some great ideas.
Danielle Mauldin, Saint Mary's College senior and Gaels basketball player selected the word "evolve."
"That is the process I am going through as I am entering my second semester of my senior year," she said. "I am developing into the person I want to be, which is a better daughter, sister, leader, student, teammate and player. It's a scary, exciting, humbling feeling knowing that I am about to be graduating from college."
For Mauldin, "evolve" is the one word that summarizes all of her hopes for 2014. "I feel that what I am going through now is preparing me for what I am up against in the new year, which is a new beginning. With the knowledge and experience I am getting here at SMC I hope to be ready for what is ahead of me."
Lynn Appleton, chef proprietor of Lafayette's The French Bakery Café and Tea House stated, "My word is 'renewal.'"
Mary Kay Moskal, professor and reading program director of Saint Mary's Kalmanovitz School of Education selected the word "family."
"This word is a reminder that I need to balance my time," she said. "I spend too much time working and not enough time with my family."
For Rev. John Morris, a faculty member in the SMC theology and religious studies department, the answer was simple. "My word is an easy one; I did not need to think about it very long. It is what is often missing from my New Year's resolution. Discipline."
Aida Glimme, principal of Acalanes High School in Lafayette, took a little more time in developing her word. "I've thought a lot about different words," said Glimme. "And the word 'balance' keeps coming to my mind. In today's world, we have many stressors that continue to throw off our balance. I have to continuously look at ways to balance my personal and family life with my job."
Though Glimme loves working in education, she sometimes finds it a struggle to also dedicate time to her family and to stay healthy. "I also feel that the concept of balance applies in how I view things on a much larger [scale]," she said.
Perhaps you'll take one of these words and fill it with personal meaning, or come up with one word that is all your own. Whichever word you choose - health, hope, life, simplicity, joy, or energy - may it be one that is filled with significance and that brings you the encouragement and assurance of a happy new year.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA