An Inspiring New Years Tradition

(Photo courtesy of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)

Melinda Gates is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  And recently we read of her very special New Years tradition that we think bears passing along to you, our chums.  Melinda Gates doesn’t start the new year with a resolution.  She starts it with a word.  Each year she picks a word, one word, and seeks to let that word shape her thinking and ultimately her life.

Melinda says this about her decision to choose and use a word: “I’ve found this to be more successful than setting a more traditional resolution, because instead of prompting a radical change in behavior, it encourages a gradual change in mindset.”

Your Two Chums have a word that we live by, year in and year out … GRATITUDE.  If you are a regular visitor to Two Chums, this will come as no surprise.  Gratitude is a word one can live by.  And trust us, living by it HAS changed us and our mindset and outlook on life.

Two years ago Melinda Gates chose the word GENTLE.  She said ” I chose the word “gentle,” and I’ve spent 2016 trying to put it into practice—being gentler to those around me, gentler in my approach to the world, and most importantly, gentler to myself.”

So now we are challenged to think of a word in addition to Gratitude, that we can allow to shape us in 2018.  Perhaps you might choose to have a word for yourself.  If you do, we would love to have you share it with us in the comments section.

These “G” words, Gratitude and Gentle, are surely good ones.   Perhaps one of them is right for you.  Perhaps there is another word that suits you better this year.  In any event, we can commit to letting 2018 be a year we are people who share more love, more joy, and more abundance in everything.