I’ve decided once again to join Ali’s one little word project again for 2009. I seriously love the simplicity of this idea. Selecting one word as a point of focus for the year ahead. I truly love this.

My word for 2009 is now.

Notice it’s not “NOW” or “now!” but just plain now…in all lowercase letters. It’s now spoken in a whisper as opposed to being yelled by a boisterous two-year old saying “I want dinner NOW!”

So why now? (I love the double meaning of that, by the way.)

Well, now because life is “now.” Now is all we have. Our life is just one continual unfolding of nows…nows that turn into “thens” in just the blink of an eye. Life is all about the decisions we make right now.

Right now I can choose to be happy.

Right now I can choose to take care of a task so that it doesn’t linger on my psyche for many more nows to come.

Right now I can choose to take the first step on my next big dream or goal.

Right now I can choose to love and listen and really pay attention to the people I care about in my life.

Right now I can choose to snuggle with my son…because who knows how much longer snuggling with Mom will be acceptable in his world.

And that last one is the reason for my word. One night earlier this month I snuggled with Collin before bed, part of our nightly ritual. I was getting up to leave…or maybe I had already left and he called me back in. Could I snuggle for a little bit longer?

Now, I had close to a million things left on my to-do list for the day…but I knew my chance to snuggle a little bit longer was right then. It was now in the context of that evening. This chance to snuggle just a bit longer might not be there tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. In ten years of snuggling with this boy, it’s been very rare that he has asked for just a bit longer. The moment was now.

I keep hearing that John Mellencamp song in my mind…(or perhaps he was John Cougar at the time, or maybe he was in the transition stage of John Cougar Mellencamp—but either way you know who I’m talking about.) The chorus to the song is “your life is now.” Yes it is. And I will remind myself of that for the entire year to come.

NOW

My life is now…not tomorrow, not yesterday. But now. And it always will be.

Here’s to a joyful 2009! I wish you and yours the very best both tonight and throughout the year. And if you’re participating in the one little word project…post a link or comment about your word. I’d love to know your point of focus for 2009.