My Word for 2022

New Year’s Resolutions.

I long ago quit making “resolutions.” I mean, if we want something to help us live a little larger, why wait for the New Year anyway? I’ve read that most people – 80 percent – break these resolutions by the second week of February. It takes at least 66 days, they say, to make a new habit.

Still, I get the whole “new year, new me,” thing. While I’m not “resolving” to be slimmer (I strive to be healthy year around and don’t always win that struggle) or kinder (again, I strive for this every day), this time of the year does bring out the organizer in me.

I do typically choose a word for my year, something I need to do to help define Living Large for myself. In 2019, just a couple of months into widowhood, it was “survival.” In 2020, it was “discovery.” In 2021, it was “contentment.”

This year it is “efficiency.”

Since I’ve been on my own, especially, it’s become imperative I try to be as efficient as possible, with my time, energy and of course, money. I’ve always been a planner. The New Year always means it’s time to put out new calendars and change out the day planners. Yes, I keep things on my phone and computer, but I am one of those dinosaurs that like paper calendars and day planners.

When I think of my word, efficiency and try to set goals for how I can be more so, it also goes back to organization. I used to be organized. All our records, important documents, etc. filed away in tidy folders in my filing cabinets, my closet organized, my bookkeeping neat and up to date. I couldn’t even leave my desk every night unless it was clean. I’d spend New Year’s Eve partying by getting all my papers work for the tax preparer.

I don’t know what happened to that woman, but I hope to find her again.

One thing that’s annoyed me this year is searching for passwords. While re-inventing this blog and my professional website, I not only couldn’t find passwords easily, I had to get my aunt involved as she was the one who created the last incarnation of my website 10 years ago. She also had problems finding the correct passwords.

When I had to set up a new computer for my work because Apple, in its infinite wisdom, quits allowing a person to update their computers although they are otherwise working fine, I had to find all my passwords to get into all my accounts which were auto filled on my old system.

It was a nightmare and I wasted so much time.

My new organizational love is my password book! I know, many people have been using these (or address books) for years, but I guess I’m typically behind on these nifty trends. But for me, several friends, and my aunt who I bought one for as holiday gifts, no more thumbing through old notebooks, day planners and scraps of paper to find my passwords.

Now, I must make time to transfer the passwords to my new little book. And, maybe, just maybe, I will also re-develop that habit of once again leaving my desk clean each day and keeping my accounting records up to date.

One can always hope.

Happy New Year, everyone! May your 2022 bring Health, Happiness, and the ability to Live Large!