It is year 14 of me choosing a word to focus on instead of writing a list of resolutions. Don’t get me wrong, I still have goals and big plans for the year, but selecting a word to guide me each day has proven to be very successful in the past. Last year’s word was “today”. With two daughters getting married in 2025, I wanted to make sure I stayed in the moment and enjoyed every minute of the preparations and parties. What a year it was! So many celebrations and milestones, I may still be recuperating! For 2026, I want to continue with the positive vibes – I have chosen the word JOY to carry me through the next 12 months.

Now, I’m not talking about the slap happy joy that would have me walking around with a huge grin every day – although, that sounds lovely. I’m not naive enough to think that I can choose a word like joy, and because of it, have a blissful year with no major problems or concerns. I’m referring more to a gladness that’s not based on circumstances. My good friend Chat GPT defines joy as “a deep, enduring feeling of happiness, contentment or delight that arises from meaning, connection, gratitude, or fulfillment- rather than from momentary pleasure or external circumstances”. Who doesn’t want THAT?!?!? Here are a few ways I will do my best to incorporate this word into my daily life.

For the most part, I need to seriously think about what I need to add to or eliminate from my life in order to recognize and appreciate more joy. Things that bring me that feeling include seeing my friends and family, being organized and not rushing from event to event or task to task, and making time for the things in my life that allow me to relax and unwind – reading, knitting, and on-line shopping (hey, honesty is the best policy!). Finding time in my schedule to visit with my friends over coffee will fill my heart much more than finding a $20 in my winter coat pocket – although we all know how pricey coffee can be! There is a quote that I’m sure resonates with most of us, “Comparison is the thief of joy”. In this day and age, with our phones in our hands most of the day, it is entirely too easy to unintentionally compare our spouse, car, job, family, haircut, house and more. This creates a sense of “It’s never enough” and is quite the opposite of joy. I have a feeling that my search for joy will begin with appropriate expectations (both for myself and others) and the ability to remove my self from a negative thought pattern or environment. Being deliberate about how I choose to spend my time, how I respond to an escalating situation, and how I manage to balance my home and work life will all be crucial in the amount of joy I will experience.

Today, I am supposed to be at work, teaching my 14 favorite three year olds about the winter weather and the difference between a glove and a mitten, and ear muffs and ear phones – they are so darn cute. But Old Man Winter had different plans and decided to teach us all a lesson about how snow and ice can create hazardous road conditions. So, I am at home, enjoying my cup of hot coffee and thinking about what I can do on my surprise day off. I have decided the best use of my time is to finish taking down the very last holiday decor, finish reading my current book, take a nap (!) and make some soup and bread for dinner. Yes – all of that brings me joy – and unplanned joy at that! I am grateful for a warm house and a dog that’s ecstatic to have me around today. I pray that this year brings us all the joy we can handle and the eyes to notice every bit of it!