Word of the Year and Welcome

Before I begin, I want to welcome you to my new and improved blog, Wednesday Words. Why Wednesday? I like the idea of having something to look forward to during the middle of the week. A little incentive to get through the hardest part and take us through to the weekend.

 

Also, it allowed for a semi-clever alliterative title for the blog. So there’s that.

Anyhoo…

Today’s post is about my Word of the Year. If you haven’t heard about it yet, I’d be surprised since it’s been a bit of trend the last few years. Instead of setting New Year’s goals that have a huge failure rate, some folks, moi included, decided to set an intention for the year, summarized by a single word or phrase. I have never been very good at setting goals, of the New Year’s variety or otherwise, so this concept had some appeal to me.  So for the last 3 years I have decided to set a Word of the Year. 

My first year was 2018. I believe my word was Calm. I’d been suffering from some major anxiety and other mental health issues in 2017, and setting an intention to be calm and at peace with myself and my surroundings sounds felt right to me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a huge success, as I ended up working on a project that required me to travel overseas for 2 weeks out of every 4 or 5. Maybe it wasn’t quite the right Word for me for that year, but since it was my first year doing this, I took that as a lesson in setting my word for 2019: Courage.

2019 was arguably my most challenging year to-date. I knew I was going to be making some massive life changes last year, so it seemed appropriate to keep Courage in the forefront of my mind while I was navigating those changes. Every time I thought it might be easier to crawl back into my comfort zone, I reminded myself to be brave, have Courage. I could do this. 

And I did. So for 2020, I decided on Perseverance as my Word of the Year (despite the fact that I can’t spell it without an assist from my good friend, Ms. Spell Check). I showed myself that I had the Courage to make All The Changes in 2019. Now, I need to make them stick. Face down the fear that always hovers on the edges of life, waiting for the opportunity to speak up and force you back into the cozy little corner, where everything is as it was, safe and sound and predictable. The brain is always seeking status quo. But status quo was not the life I wanted. Change is hard, mostly because it’s so easy to give up.

But in 2020, I intend to Persevere. Stay the course, even when it’s uncomfortable. Even when it’s the scariest thing I can imagine doing. 

Because if I don’t Persevere, all the work I put into changing 2019 into a life that I choose will be for nothing. And I owe myself better than that. 
I saw a meme on Facebook the other day that exactly described what Perseverance means to me. (It’s not attributed, however, so I don’t want to post it, as I want to be respectful to whoever created it. If I can find the creator, I’ll update this post with the meme, because it’s powerful.)

It says, “Re-set. Re-adjust. Re-start. Re-focus. Re-repeat. As many times as you need to. Just Don’t Quit.”

In other words, Persevere. Even if you’ve failed. Even when it’s hard. Even when the darkness feels like it’s going to overtake everything. Just Don’t Quit.

Persevere.