OWN-ing 2012

Stepping Into Owning a Year

The most thought-provoking holiday card I received this year—any year come to think of it—has the following words:

I WISH for YOU to have the BEST Holiday Season EVER!

And I WISH for you to OWN Next Year!

Have a GREAT one Christine!

Wishes for a great, positive, peaceful, loving holiday season abound, so the first line does not move me toward any profound thoughts or sentiments.

It’s the second line that gives me pause:

And I wish for you to OWN next year.

I checked some online definitions and found that the origin of owning has to do with hacking. If I hacked MIT, for example, that means I “owned” it. I think I’ll pass on that kind of owning.

Moving right along to http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-of/own, I found the following definition: Own—to be extremely good.

I like that one.

While I paused, and it was a long pause because I received the card over a week ago, I kept going back to that phrase—OWN next year. I started considering just what that would look like and what I can do to OWN a year—an entire year. I have some ideas, and they don’t take the form of resolutions. I shy away from resolutions because honestly, I get up every day with a fresh batch of them, and often feel the sting of defeat by the time the sun goes down. To feel that sting after an entire year would be too painful.

Owning is different. The idea of possession, of taking an entire year, embracing it, and stepping through it appeals to me. The prospect of taking that year and making it mine, not in a selfish way, but in an empowering way, appeals even more.

So here’s to OWNing 2012 and the reality of that, step by step, every day.

This one's for Jeff Gordon. Thank you!