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Have you thought about a New Year’s resolution for 2022? I would suggest that you don’t need a resolution, you just need a word. One word that you will focus on all year. One word that says what you want God to do for you this year. One word that indicates an attitude and a commitment you’re willing to take on with God’s help.

Actually, I would like to suggest one word that would work for you and anybody else you know—and that one word is thankfulness. Just suppose you determine to make thankfulness the theme of your life in this new year. Just suppose that you are willing to put away the negative thoughts and the complaining spirit, and overflow with thankfulness throughout the year? How would that make 2022 different from 2021?

This is a characteristic I’ve been trying to cultivate more and more in my life because I want to be thankful for all my many, many blessings. But also because being thankful is a major stress buster! I’m not kidding; one of the best things you can do to reduce your stress, lower your blood pressure, and lengthen your life is to practice thankfulness.

Notice I said “practice thankfulness.” You see, it’s really easy to get caught up in complaining because that’s what we hear around us quite often. And we’ve all gone through—still going through—a worldwide pandemic that gave us lots to complain about, didn’t it? Don’t you hear a good bit of griping and complaining where you work? Well, you might have caught that complaining disease without realizing it. So, you need to practice thankfulness.

Here are some suggestions to help you do that.

  1. Put a sign on your desk or your screen saver or your refrigerator that says: “My one word for 2022: Thankfulness.” I think we just sometimes need simple reminders. It sure wouldn’t hurt. In fact, we’ve prepared a reminder like this that you can use, if you like.
  2. Put on thankfulness each morning before you leave home. While you’re buttoning your shirt or putting on your shoes, just make a little ritual each day of saying, “And I’m also putting on thankfulness to wear all day today.”

Very simple and easy things to do—but those little rituals and reminders could truly make a difference in your life in this new year.

If you would like “My One Word for 2022” reminder card, click here to download the pdf.