Walk! My One Word for 2017

I wasn’t going to do it this year.

I was tired. Really tired.

Frankly a little lost.

In a year filled with sorrows, disappointments, and a little health scare of my own, I had about decided to forego the attempt to frame this year around a central theme – my one word. (You can read more about the idea as a substitute for New Year’s resolutions here.)

Previous years saw themes emerge such as Lean, One, Advance!, and Renew.

Cynical candidates for this year included such cheery themes as Coast, Surrender, or Vegetate. Nothing else really seemed to resonate, so I had decided, despite a couple of really good suggestions from my daughter, to pass this year.  That’s when I decided to take a walk yesterday.

And about the same time the Holy Spirit seemed to whisper, “Yes.  Walk.”

Walk.  It suggests motion in a specific direction. So it involves a decision and action to get out of the chair, as it were, and move ahead purposefully. But it’s also not running.  It recognizes that there is wisdom in not trying to get there (wherever “there” is) too fast.

Walking is different from standing.  Standing is guarded and defensive – at least the way it is portrayed in scripture.  Walking is about lifestyle and forward movement.

Forward, purposeful, measured, determined movement.

Walking has a physical component to it, of course. So I purposefully got out and walked yesterday, and more of that should come.  The enemy of the walk is the couch or chair, and honestly, sometimes the biggest impediment to exercise is getting out of the chair.  And the key to walking being meaningful on that level is consistency – putting one foot in front of the other whether it is convenient and easy or not.

Walking isn’t sexy.  Superstars and flashes in the pan don’t walk. They fly. They run. They have someone else do their walking for them. Walking seems boring. It’s something a toddler can do. It’s the stuff of treadmills and turtles. But turtles can get a bad rap.  I’ve seen some tortoises get after it when they’re motivated. Running, on the other hand, is the stuff of rabbits.  Rabbits eat their young and get shot.

Biblically speaking, walking is about a lifestyle.  Many words are used to describe our walk. Walk in unity. Walk in truth.  Walk in love. Walk by faith.  All of those things describe moving forward, purposefully, step-by-step, in a determined way.

Walking acknowledges that there is a direction my body and my life are going.  But it also frees us from having everything figured out about the future.  I don’t have to know what the journey is like at its end. I only have to take the journey of the next step and make sure that step is in the direction I want to go.

Walk with me this year.  Remind me every once in a while to get my butt out of the chair. Encourage me to slow down if I’m acting like a manic rabbit.  Challenge me to keep putting one foot in front of the other, even when it’s hard.  Help me remember that there is purpose in all we do.  And I’ll do the same for you.

Forward.

Purposeful.

Measured.

Determined.

Movement.

Let’s take a walk.

Tagged as: Action, Goals, Lifestyle, Pacing, Perseverance, Purpose