The Theme for 2010

I'm not sure exactly when I started doing "themes for the year."  I do know that it started out silly. Like one year, the theme was "it's all about me"  which I would jokingly remind my family of whenever something was too much about everything else.

But somewhere along the line, it actually became a 'thing.' A real theme. The one item I wanted to focus on.  Not a resolution exactly, but more about intention.

This year, the theme is simple--Daily.  To be honest, I'm not even sure exactly what it means yet, except that as a 'big picture' sort of girl, I've been impressed lately that all of the truly significant things in life happen at a daily level rather than at a 'big moment' level. Not that I don't think the big picture view is important, but more that the big picture view doesn't result in implementation.  You can 'zoom out' to set trajectory, but to actually get there happens in the daily actions.

Last year, I helped Kimberly-the-Behavioral-Therapist with a project.  For three weeks, participants had to write down what we did every 30-minutes. The weird thing is that looking at the spreadsheets across the three weeks, I saw that every day was almost exactly the same. (Even though they felt really different.)  We typically get up every morning at the same time, spend the same blocks eating, sleeping, working.  Even the work day has a certain rhythm.  The point of Kimberly's project was that to make real change, you have to change the blocks.  Get up an hour earlier if you want to work out. (Changing the block from sleep to awake.) Schedule dinner with your family if you want to build relationship. (Changing everyone's blocks from work, or soccer, or music practice to eating together).  Set aside a block of 30 minutes to practice harmonica (which I never, ever did.)

I've also come to believe that God works on a daily basis. That you can experience His presence simply by allowing yourself to become quiet enough to reach out for it--not just sitting cross-legged on the floor or kneeling with hands folded, but as you go about your life.  It would seem that the more 'blocks' you spend doing that, the more the days are filled on God's agenda rather than hitting our head against brick walls. It would seem the more we would experience 'flow.'

Standing at the beginning edge of 2010, those are just possibilities.  I can't wait to see what the theme, Daily brings.