Living In Harmony

Today I'm feeling reflective because another New Year's Eve is upon us, a chance to go out with the old, in with the new. Goodbye 2014. Hello 2015.

My one little word for this year was joy; click {here} to remember what I said about that a year ago today. Intentionally choosing joy truly impacted my year in positive ways, so I'm going to once again participate in Ali Edward's eight-year OLW tradition. Since 2012, these have been my focus words, in order:

peace, gratitude, joy and now, harmony.

Click graphic for source.

One little word. 365 days, if we're lucky.

Because we're not promised tomorrow, really. Just today.

One day at a time.

So I choose harmony for this year's one little word,

because life's too short to live in discord.

Oh, sure, we'll have incongruous times, guaranteed.

But we don't have to feel discontent when those days find us.

Think of them as pit stops that help sweeten the harmonious resolve.

Harmony - agreement, accord; consistent, orderly or pleasing arrangement of parts, congruity - is a choice. 

Even when it's disorderly, chaotic, and messy.

So how did I come to choose harmony?

First, some discord. I've been in a bit of a funk since Thanksgiving, an annual pattern for me, brought on by the barrage of holiday busy-ness, mayhem and mania. I much prefer slow, simple, and serene and find myself easily overwhelmed by and quick to retreat from fast-paced and flashy. Be that as it may, this book made its way onto my desk just as this year's holiday blues were setting in.

Books tend to do that; they find their way into my life when I'm not even looking. It came from my friend Ann, whose brother recently lost his battle with cancer. The note inside read: I bought it, I read it, I'm passing it along. Ann had told me about this author, so I'm I'm thinking the connection for her is that it was written by a blogger, like me, and I was touched that she would help this book find me. 

As I started reading it on the plane ride home for the holidays, I saw that one of the endorsements was written by Ann Voskamp, whose book One Thousand Gifts I read on our Christmas trip home two years back, the book that sparked my olw for 2013: gratitude. That would just be the first of many connections I would make with Kara's inspirational story. 

And though I must confess that I can't fully understand what she must endure in her battle against the beast that is cancer, I can connect (on a much smaller scale) with her pursuit of peace in the struggle, in the hard, in the ugly. In her post {here} just two days ago, Kara shares that her husband has now called for hospice care. Her earthly days are waning, so, unlike most of us, she's not only saying goodbye to 2014 right now. And yet, she's faithfully mining blessings in this burden and peace from her peril. Please keep this sweet soul and her family in your prayers.

Then, some resolve. On the road between my sister's home in Madison and my brother's place in Fond du Lac, I saw a sign, written on the side of a barn. 
One little word: harmony. 

At that moment, everything fell into place.

The disharmonies that had made my holiday heart heavy resolved.

And I knew.

What can improve for you this year?

May your journey be filled with beautiful, harmonious interludes.