No improvement needed here—perfect as they are.

Improvement. That's my one word, and I'm sticking to it.

That one word is my response to a question posed yesterday on Facebook by SITS Girls, a network of bloggers I—and several other Grandma's Briefs readers—belong to, a network built around the idea that "The Secret to Success is Support".

The question SITS Girls asked its members yesterday: "What's the one word you hope defines 2012?"

I hemmed, hawed, considered (but never consulted) the thesaurus. Then I settled on improvement. Mostly because I desperately want, desperately need 2012 to be an improvement over 2011...and 2010 and 2009—the years that became so tough in so many ways since losing my job. The years that have been so tough for so many since losing jobs, losing retirement investments, losing savings of all sorts, and, for many, losing hope.

I thankfully never lost hope. Ever. And my hope for 2012 is that it's marked by my chosen word: improvement. Not just improvement in year-over-year as a whole, but improvement in nearly every single sector of my life.

I hope to see improvement physically. I need to eat better, exercise more, feel fit to function in far better ways than I have been.

I hope to see improvement financially. I have little gigs here and there that foster this improvement, but I need to improve my numbers—of gigs, of words written, of options. Mostly, I need to improve the numbers in my bank account.

I hope to see improvement in my home, and I have more home improvement projects on my plate than I care to admit. Accomplishing even just one or two would surely be an improvement, so success in this sector is a given. I hope.

I hope to see improvement in my piano playing, picture taking, recipe making, wrinkle erasing, and more.

I hope to see improvement in the quality of relationships I have, the friendships I maintain.

I hope to see improvement in the number of hours I spend reading—for enjoyment, not review or research.

I hope to see improvement in my ability to relax...without guilt...without reservation and unnecessary explanation.

And I hope to see improvement in the amount of time I devote to gratitude, thankfulness, appreciation. Of all I already have. All I already am. All I already can do and give and be.

Improvement takes work. And persistence, motivation, perseverance. And the ability to overcome frustration, as I'm sure I'll get frustrated along the way to improvement—frustrated with myself, with others, with circumstances beyond my control. (Especially with circumstances beyond my control, which makes me consider that I should really work on improving my need to control everything, too.)

With work, persistence and more, paired with hope—humongous heaps of high hopes—that one word will be mine. Improvement. In all areas. In this year over years past.

Improvement. That's my one word, and I'm sticking to it.

Photo of Bubby and Baby Mac: Shamelessly stolen from Megan's Facebook page.

Today's question:

As the SITS Girls asked, "What's the one word you hope defines 2012?"