WORD OF THE YEAR: This word is supposed to guide you during the year. It is supposed to inspire you. It is supposed to help you better define your life. It is supposed to help you grow. It is supposed to motivate you. It is supposed to remind you of your priorities.
Up.
Embrace.
Temperance.
These have been some of my words of the year in the past.
My word for the year 2012?
Gentleness is one of the manifestations of a virtuous person. That is why many of us love to go along with gentle people. Ladies love a gentleman’s comfort; children love the mildness and tenderness of gentle parents; a gentle friend is always there to calm you; and a gentle leader is one that gives honor and respect.
A gentle person is one who is self-sacrificing, humble, kind, just, loving, peaceful, forgiving, joyful and understanding. They are not selfish, proud, rude, iniquitous, arrogant, violent, insecure and ignorant. This only means that they possesses not only one virtue that makes them that, but they possesses several great virtues that work as one to make them a gentle person.
Gentleness is not only seen in a persons actions, it can also be demonstrated in their thoughts, words and intentions. This is because it lives deep within them. Once a person is gentle, they also have a gentle root and foundation. Moreover, they also bear the fruits and consequences of gentleness. These fruits include peace, harmony, joy and thankfulness.
To achieve gentleness, you need to have a great power. This must be a power that can bind a power. You need to be stronger. You must have a great strength that can manage your own strength. Furthermore, you must have a self that can control yourself, or in other word, self-control. This also means that you must become your inner self, rather than your external self.
Finding your inner self is simply finding your pure self. This is yourself when you are not yet corrupted by the negative forces that are in this world. These forces include pride, wrath, misery and insecurity. Therefore, to purify yourself and to have gentleness in your mind, heart, mouth and actions, you need to remove all those dark qualities that have contaminated your life since you were born on Earth.
Being gentle sounds simple, but so hard to do. You need to have a great power to do that. The greater power that can overcome the power that makes you rough is one that is more eternal – one that lasts longer and even forever. That power is found in your spirit. It is the spirit that comes from God, which pulls all the spiritual things you need to possess gentleness. It is the spirit that is founded by love.
Love is such a great thing. It’s hard to practice; it’s hard to be consistent. But if you want to achieve greater powers, which give you the ability to do greater things (such as being gentle), you need to practice harder in loving. This is the secret to gentleness: have all the virtues that support it, such as joy, peace, thankfulness, compassion and patience. Then bind them all with love, which connects them all together to work us one… to work in making you a truly gentle person.
Finally, we must always remember that being gentle is greater than being rough. Being self-controlled is harder than being violent. This only means that living in gentleness is a life of greater people. So if you want to be great, be gentle… and if you want to be gentle, be great. ~ secretcontents.com
I want to be more gentle with my kids. More gentle with my spouse. More gentle with myself. More gentle with others. More gentle in all my relationships.
I want to use a more gentle voice.
I want to be more gentle with the way I use my precious time.
I want to be more gentle and respectful with the body I have been blessed with. I need to get more sleep, be more fit and fill my body with more healthy foods.
Do you have a word of the year you would like to share?
I hope everyone is having a healthy, happy and purposeful start to their new year.
Good word, but always gentle? for me that could be a challenge(:
My words for 2012 are “Live Deliberately” hope you like it!!
also fee free to check out my blogsite: baipoint.wordpress.com
I’m not a huge Michael McLean fan, but I do love his song Gentle. Have you heard it?
Nope, haven’t heard the song. I just read the lyrics, though. Pretty cool. Now to find the song to listen to. Thanks for the heads up
!!
I love this — I want to be more gentle in how I speak to my children and how I treat/judge myself. What a great word.
Very inspiring and life-changing.
The word I have chosen for this year is: DISCIPLINE, in regards to my money and time specifically…
I love your word and your approach to the year! We could all stand to be more gentle, but to make it your focus for the whole year you are destined to succeed! I have the Michael McLean song on CD — I will find it for you (hopefully!) and rip it and send you the mp3 (somehow!)
Excellent post!
I think if I had to choose a word, it would be gratitude. I’m reading a book about gratitude and generosity and I’m loving it. Happy New Year!
I am now thinking about my word for the year. I love the Michael McClean song Gentle.
My word for the year 2012 will be “steadfast” stead·fast
1. fixed in direction; steadily directed: a steadfast gaze.
2. firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment, etc., as a person: a steadfast friend.
3. unwavering, as resolution, faith, adherence, etc.
4. firmly established, as an institution or a state of affairs.
5. firmly fixed in place or position.
Oh, lovely post. To define a goal in one word, I appreciate the challenge. For me it had to be “prayer” as I strive to grasp what it means to pray without ceasing. Blessings…
I am not even kidding when I say that “gentle” is my word, too. That’s the word that always comes to me when I pray about it. I think we are desperate for a little more gentleness from me around here!
That’s an excellent reminder for me. I need to be more gentle. It’s hard to do sometimes! Well, a lot of the time. haha. good post! And I need to pick a word, never done it before.
My word this year is “Strive.” Your word is all kinds of fabulous though, and reading this post made me smile.
“Gentle” is such a great theme, especially pertaining to motherhood.
I could so use this much more often, as could my 3 crazy boys…YIKES!
Next year! I like the “gentle with myself” part because sometimes we would be a lot gentler with someone else than our own selves and that’s just silly.
You will succeed and reap these benefits. You’ve had a crazy year where “gentle” may have been harder but this year is it! This is the time and you will rock it!!
xoxo
Love your word! I too need to be more gentle. Thanks for sharing:)