A year ago, I ran across
another blog which was talked about choosing a word for the year. I did some
research and discovered this is actually rather popular. Many people, whether
bloggers, Christians or random strangers on Facebook, pick a word to
concentrate on in the coming year. A word which can offer support and
inspiration, a word which can pull your focus back to where you need it to be.
My word for 2014 was
ACCEPTANCE. I typed it up and put it on my desk for the year.
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| That's a picture of my Compassion girl in Kenya above my word. |
Occasionally during the past
twelve months, I would look at that word and would indeed get my focus back.
More often, however, I would look at it and think, “What am I supposed to do
with that word again?”
As the months passed, I forgot
more and more about that word on my desk. The first of October I sent my third
book to my publisher, he accepted it and we began the stressful process of
preparing my shoddy manuscript for publication. Though I knew it would be
tight, I had high hopes for the book being out by Christmas.
And I came so close. Until I
started getting emails from my publisher apologizing for there being a snag
with their printer. The days dragged into weeks and the 25th of
December loomed large on the calendar.
And a certain word loomed on my desk.
ACCEPTANCE
Then there in the mail on
December 23 was a neat little package containing the proof copy of “The Early
Life of Jesus in 40 Days”. At this point, I always feel like just tossing it to
the side. I don’t know if other authors feel the same way, but after all that
work, it feels anticlimactic to hold your finished book in your hand.
I grudgingly opened the
package, turned the book over and found three mistakes on the back cover. I was
crushed. I really did want to throw the book across the room.
ACCEPTANCE
I don’t know why, but God had
a reason for the delay in printing the book and the further delay caused by these
errors (errors I should have caught on the electronic proof).
I don’t know what the New Year
will bring (hopefully a case of “The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days” within the
next two weeks) and I don’t know what word to choose to keep me on track for
the year. I do know of one word that has worked well just recently.
ACCEPTANCE
3 comments:
ACCEPTANCE ended up being the right word for you. I had not ever chosen a word for myself, but at 6am today it came to me - DIFFERENT. Try different things. Be more open to different ways of thought. React differently to the way I react to things sometimes. Good luck with your book and your publisher.
Good for you, for coming up with the perfect word for you for the year. Best wishes on all the different things you will encounter this year.
Kudos to you - both for the book and for applying your Word of the Year so creatively.
Writing a book can certainly be a challenge, so acceptance definitely is called for!
Don't beat yourself up over the typos too much, though. I'm a proofreader by trade and I know that it often takes a few different sets of eyes to find them all. I've heard that Reader's Digest sends its stories through - count 'em - SEVEN proofings before they are published.
So here's an electronic High Five for 2014. What is your word for 2015?
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