Double-Down

In 2023, I chose a word for the year for the first time. It’s a tradition that some friends have been doing for years (as displayed here), and some only for a few years as well. And of course, in my first year I screwed it up and chose two words: Double Down. I just hyphenated to cheat.

In January 2023, I had been married for just over 5 months. And marriage was the main focus of my word choice. I had just recently committed to my wife, and made vows of course. I wanted to double-down on my words, and more than that. I wanted to make sure to not slack off and go on auto-pilot. I wanted to take action.

Some notable memories from this effort was setting up systems in my household that improved the quality of life for my wife and I. I established a weekly meal schedule with a menu to cook from. This was a great improvement as it made our schedules more predictable of when we would have meals and when we should eat leftovers. It also made grocery shopping so much easier and more predictable. Along with this, I along with my wife laid out our chore duties clearly for each week. We established to clean together on Sunday afternoons with clear roles, and it made the process much more efficient. I feel these steps improved our quality of life and marriage.

In July 2023, a lot of things came crashing down. My brother died suddenly and tragically on July 15th. Life came to a halt. A lot of normalities in life were completely thrown off. So for the remaining half of 2023, it was survival, regrouping, and recovering. It was not doubling down on anything, really.

ReCenter

That leads to 2024. Reflecting on my last few months of 2023 that were full of grief, I recognized that my sights were very off center. The tragic event had screwed with my emotions, with my job, with my marriage, and most notably with my faith, with my relationship with God. My center was off-center. So, for 2024 my word is Recenter. With everything feeling thrown off and out of whack, I am looking towards this year to find that center again. The loss of my brother came with a lot of confusion towards God and a lot of anger and frustration as well. Prayer has been hard in these last 6 months. My relationship with God feels greatly strained.

In 2024 I seek to find peace in this matter. I want to return to a place of contentment in my faith, and find areas of new growth. I want to find my center again in my life.

Daniel