January 6, 2023
Every year Arrow’s personal and professional development coach, Michael Buckley, asks everyone to pick a “Word of the Year.” The goal is to look inward and consider what we each need more of and what might improve our lives. Sometimes we need more focus or clarity. Sometimes we need more compassion. Sometimes we just need more fun!
Picking a word for both me and my community is a commitment to doing work on yourself and the “we” and “us” work we want to do as a community.
Looking back on 2022, my favorite memory was our residents and employees at Cedar Trails Senior Living having so many fun times. One of their favorites is our annual fall festival. Residents and their families came together for great food, music, games, and pumpkin painting. Trick-or-treating the trails brought out the resident’s grandkids, great grandkids, and even great-great grandkids. It was wonderful watching the residents with their families.
Now, looking forward to 2023, what Cedar Trails needs is kindness. We always practice kindness towards everyone, because we do not know what struggles they are going through or have gone through. We each are unique in our own way. To weave kindness into daily operations of the community, we use smiles, hugs, take walks with residents, and help them with games.
For 2023, I want to add the word laughter. Laughter is infectious and contagious; when one person starts laughing, others join in. Laughter is a great stress reducer, so bring on those funny stories and jokes.
What is YOUR WORD? I hope you will pick one too. What does your life need a little more of in 2023? What does “future you” thank you for working on now? Our words are meant to inspire us. If it is not inspiring, it’s not the right word.
And if you are reading this, please hold us accountable. When you visit Cedar Trails Senior Living or come to town hall, ask us what our word of the year is and what have we done to support it.
Please look forward to the December 2023 blog where we tell you all the ways we lived in line with our word of the year and all the ways it helped improve our community.
Cedar Trails Senior Living in Freeburg, IL offers independent senior apartments, assisted living, and memory care with a variety of services and a range of floor plan options. Amenities include restaurant dining, 24-hour bistro, concierge service, housekeeping, events and entertainment, personal care, transportation services, and more. Centrally located near St. Elizabeth’s Hospital with convenient access to major shopping centers, including The Orchards Golf Club, Target, Eckerts Belleville Farm, Braeutigam Orchards, and the Belle Clair fairgrounds & Expo Center.
