impact

It took me long enough to find this one word. This one little word. My word of the year. Yet as I look at it in its simplicity and strength, I know the wait was worth it.

I was reading the Internet, as per usual. Some people like to give it a fancy name like content curation, but I prefer the former. It wreaks of honesty. But I digress. I was reading and ran across a writing prompt, which is not unusual, but this one struck me. It prompted everyone within its reach to "Make a list of 20 people who have had a positive impact on your life" (I am still compiling my list of twenty people, so it will have to be next time that I share it, but I am on track.). 

As I read this simple sentence, one word stood out from the rest, and I felt the music and poetry of my life rush about me and to whom I owe so much. In that moment, I decided to heed the call, but not to leave it there, but to watch for all the ways that I make an impact on others and to make it a good one as much as I can and to watch for all the ways that others make an impact on my life and to focus on the good and cast off the bad. I want to witness how my choices bring me closer to being on someone else's list. 

This year I will focus on the impact of human kindness on the world because I try to be more a part of it. I will focus on recognizing the impact my choices make on others—whether good or bad—and do what I can to make things right. I want to make an impact on the world that I can be proud of. And I will begin examining that with this one little word for 2017.