Give Thanks to Your One Word of the Year
{One Word 2024 November Linkup}
As you pause to give thanks in November, if you’ve had a One Word of the Year, can you also thank your word for the gifts it has brought into your life, in both expected and unexpected ways?
Here’s a simple gratitude exercise to try:
Take a few quiet moments to think about 5 or 6 things you’re thankful for as a result of your word. Write down each one as if you’re speaking directly to your word. Start with, “Thank you for…”
Need some ideas?
– “Thank you for this lesson you taught me…”
– “Thank you for helping me meet these people…”
– “Thank you for improving this attitude…”
– “Thank you for motivating this change…”
– “Thank you for deepening this spiritual practice…”
If you’d like, write these reflections on a real thank-you card. Keep it somewhere you’ll see in the next few weeks to remind you of the gift your One Word has been in 2024.
Here’s my thank-you note to my word CURIOSITY:
Dear Curiosity,
♥ Thank you for teaching me the power of curious uncertainty—that staying open, even when it’s uncomfortable, is often more valuable than the false safety of already knowing.
♥ Thank you for leading me to new friends: the climate advocates I’ve met in person this year, the seekers I’ve connected with online, the volunteers in my community doing good things, and even me—I’ve learned more about myself as I’ve opened up to people curious to know me (curiosity flows in both directions).
♥ Thank you for showing me how curiosity can foster compassion rather than judgment, inviting understanding instead of arguments or judgments.
♥ Thank you for inspiring me to ask more often, “Can you tell me more?”—a small question but one that’s allowed me to hear some amazing life stories.
♥ And thank you for deepening a spiritual practice I’ve always loved: memorizing meaningful truths to embed in my heart, such as this gem from Joseph Campbell: “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.”
With my gratitude,
Lisa
We would love to see your list, too! Share in the comments below, link up a blog post here, or snap a quick photo of your list to post in our Facebook group.
This linkup will stay live for two weeks from Sunday, November 24, through Sunday, December 8. Next month’s linkup will open on Monday, December 23 (one day early) through Tuesday, January 7.
What are you grateful for this year thanks to your One Word? Please leave a comment here.
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Love your gratitude list!
Thanks, Linda. Curiosity has given me lots of things to be grateful for!
Cultivate has been a great WOTY, Lisa. And November is a great time to cultivate gratitude and thankfulness for all the Lord has done for us.
I’m so glad that Cultivate has been a great word for you, Lisa! Once again, I’ve also enjoyed YOUR word and all the ways that you, well, cultivate your word each year. 🙂 Much to be grateful for!
I have greatly enjoyed choosing One Word each year. I shall start today to think of my word for next year.
Isn’t choosing a word a fun practice? I’m glad you enjoy it too, Deb! I have been trying to narrow mine down for 2025. I’ll look forward to what you’ll choose too!
You always come up with the most thought provoking exercises for our WOTY Lisa! ☺️
I’ll have to do some reflecting on my word which is ‘Change’.
blessings, Jennifer
I’ve been so fascinated with your word this year, Jennifer! I have toyed myself with choosing Impermanence as a word of the year, which is a twin in many ways to Change. Whatever word I choose for 2025, I think it will encompass Change/Impermanence in it.
It’s been quite the journey with my WOTY ‘Change’ Lisa,
as I’ve just posted.
And linked above rather late, I know, but never mind.
It will be interesting to see what you choose.
I’ve just started thinking about words for next year. ☺️
I love this, Lisa. I’ve never chosen a one-word to do for the year, but I was thinking about you and how you do this each year the other day—and how I never do :)—and realized that one word has come to my mind over the last couple of years really. Can you have a retroactive word?
I think you can, Ashley! 🙂 There are no rules in this One Word adventure, so having a retroactive word sounds like fair game to me. I often find my previous words repeating themselves in new years, and words that I didn’t use in previous years, finally being birthed into a new year. Words are fun to play with, especially for people like us who love to write and edit them.
I have learned more about myself and my Lord through this study of the term trust. I never realized I was not always trusting Him with the day-to-day issues of my life.