One Word

Well, it's that time again! For the past couple of years, I have participated in a blogging project called Reverb, where one blogs each day throughout the month of December as they reflect on the good, the bad, and maybe the downright ugly that happened during the past year.

This time around, I'll be using a variety of prompts that I find from different hosting websites. You can find today's prompt here 

Day 1-One Word(s)

Encapsulate the year 2012 in one word. Explain why you're choosing that word. Now imagine it's one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2013 for you? (Author: Gwen Bell)

I've been told by a few of my friends that I am the kind of person who is very aware of things. I feel that I have a strong intuition and am good at assessing people and situations as a whole. However, I made some very naive and unwise decisions this year. 2012 was a very big wake-up call in terms of what to do and what not to do. 

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This year, I gained awareness and insight on the following:

Safety and self-protection in dangerous situations are more important than trying to be nice. 

That some relationships are too stressful and unhealthy to have. And that trying to constantly see the good in a particular person or situation can be harmful.

God and Christianity in our modern culture often look like two very different things. 

Love is one of the greatest gifts, while self-defensive and putting up walls eventually becomes one of the greatest pains. 

We're all made from the same clay, but we're not molded in the same way. 

As this year comes to a close, I find myself looking at a new one that I have never really explored before, and something that I want to carry over into 2013. That word being Freedom. 

In February, I will be turning twenty-one, so I will have the freedom to stay in a bar or a nightclub after ten o'clock. 

But more important than that, I want to embrace other freedoms as well. Emotional freedoms and spiritual freedoms.  

To express my experiences and feelings without defensiveness or fear of judgement; regardless of what other people say or think, I am still loved. 

Letting go of the ridiculously high standards I tend to set for myself. 

Allowing others to support and help me, in whatever way that may be. 

Not being shadowed by past mistakes or choices. 

That I am only defined by how I see myself; to rest in how God sees me. 

To love whole-heartily, and allowing my heart to receive that same kind of love in return. 

I hope to elaborate more on some of these topics as this month progresses. There are so many thoughts that take more than one sentences to express. 

Awareness and Freedom are beautiful words; I pray that I will be able to put them into beautiful actions.