My One Word Challenge

Let's just say, my morning did not exactly start off on the right foot.... and by the right foot I mean it started on a crappy foot, literally. As I came in from walking the pups I noticed that I had stepped in dog poo for the fourth time this month. FOURTH TIME!  As you can imagine, I'm not exactly thrilled with my neighbor dogs and their lack of a responsible human owner. I'm going to have to start navigating around my apartment complex with a flashlight at 5:00am. That wont look suspicious at all...

On Thursdays, I start work at 7 so unless I want to be up at 4 to get to the gym, it has to wait until after work. So now, I'm tired and feeling sluggish. I have a headache, I've already been in an argument this morning, and had a 20 minute conversation with my mom complaining about all of the absolutely horrible things that have happened to me in the last 24 hours. And I keep hearing this little voice in the back of my mind...

Joy.

Joy.

JOY.

JOY!

Remember me? I'm the word you picked last week after the church sermon in which you were challenged to choose one word to push you out of your comfort zone. I'm the word that is going to take you into 2014 with a focus to be better for yourself, for God and for others. You picked me, now you're stuck with me! for 356 more days! Ahahhahaha! Now, isn't that something to be JOYFUL about!?!?

Are you testing me, God? I think Satan tempted me into picking my word. I want a new one.

It's going to be a long year day.

My One Word Challenge
And thus, I present to you, the greatest challenge of 2014 you could possibly partake in. You don't have to be religious to join in on this one. If you are, great. If you're not, that's okay too! This challenge is about picking some things that you don't like about yourself, picturing yourself a year from now and figuring out the differences between the two people. It's about figuring out who you are right now, and where you want to go. 

Do you need to be more patient, humble, forgiving? Do you wish you were more focused, hard working, dedicated? My One Word is a challenge, to choose a word and apply it to your life for the next 365 days. To get more information, you can take a look at the My One Word website. There are tons of words there to help give you an idea of what other people have chosen, and even some explanations of why they picked what they did.

I was super pumped about this when Pastor Ashcraft presented us with this challenge last week. I think this is a great exercise for absolutely anyone.

Here's what you do:

1. Pick a word. 
2. Apply it to your job, your relationships, your day to day tasks every day for the next year.
3. Bring it with you through every challenge and hardship, and happy moment.
4. Share your word with someone close to you. Ask them to hold you accountable and remind you of that word when you are struggling with it.

It might take a little while to figure out which word you want to choose, and that's fine! Pray about it, meditate, do whatever you do. But once you pick your word, stick with it.

My Word
As you can tell, my word, "joy," is already challenging me right now.

I just have to remember to trust that my faith in myself and in God will produce perseverance and that God is with me, and for me. That thought alone, will get me through all the (dog) crap and keep me focused on JOY!

Take the challenge with me!
What is your one word? Why did you choose it?