Last year, I stumbled upon a concept that I really like. In my personal life, I had a rough year. I found myself needing something to carry me through. That ended up being one word; happiness. I made it my daily frame of mind to appreciate the little things in life. I consciously chose to be happy. Let me just say it wasn’t always easy, but training my mind to that one word made a huge difference.
I found out at the end of last year that this is actually a concept that has been picking up momentum. There are several books written about the power of just one word. Oneword365.com describes it as “your one word is intended to be your guide, not your harsh standard. It’s not about doing more, but about being who you were created to be.”
Looking at the forecast for the dairy industry in 2018, it could be easy to pick our one word as; survive. Trust me I have found myself more times then not lately letting the negatives seep deeply into my frame of mind. This way of life often makes it difficult to see the positives.
I challenge you to take part this year; we will call it a little mental health exercise! Take a look at your farm, your life, and your goals for 2018. Pick one word that you can positively tune into your brain to set your frame of mind to accomplish what’s needed for this year. Let that one word be your guide. I know it seems like such a simple thing, but I think if you give it a try you’ll find there really is power in just one word for the new year.
The author is a third-generation dairy farmer from Oregon where she farms in partnership with her husband and parents. As a mother of two young boys who round out the family run operation as micro managers, Darleen blogs about the three generations of her family working together at Guernsey Dairy Mama. Abiqua Acres Mann's Guernsey Dairy is currently home to 90 registered Guernseys and transitioned to a robotic milking system in 2017.