I'm not much of a follower, but I do appreciate a good idea when I see one...and one of the blogs I read is always chok-full of them. Ali is just so cute with everything she does...we have a similar decorating style, and she mothers her son the way I mother my kids...so I keep tabs on her blog just to see what else she comes up with. She is the ultimate follower-through, and how I envy her for that! (I could be, but I'm fairly certain there's something ese around here I ought to be doing...;) ) Anyway, Ali picks a word at the first of the year every year, and it becomes her "theme" for the year...and everyone who reads her blog also picks one, and then every. single. one. of. them comment her blog to tell her what their word is. (and she probably reads and silently validates each persons post; she's just that sort of person; I would be inclined to say who gives a rip??) One of her commenters decided that her word was gratitude, and left the following quote:

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order,confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger to a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." (by Melody Beattie)

Now I don't know who Melody Beattie is, or if she was the first person to ever string those words together just so, and I'm not picking a word for 2008, but if I did, it would be something to do with gratitude, because that quote just spoke to me.