Hey, and Happy 2022!
Yes, yes, I understand it’s just another day and the calendar we use is rather arbitrary. Even so, isn’t it nice to have an external signal here and there for encouragement? I’m under no illusion that a whole lot globally will change just because 2021 is officially over, but I know it’s feeling right for me personally this year to draw a line.
Maybe that’s still a bit naïve, and I’m falling prey to the typical excitement around setting goals and intentions, making plans for a different kind of year, leaning into big changes and transformation…all to slowly but surely disappear over the next few months back into the ho-hum of life. But you know what?
No. I don’t think so. Not this year.
I’ve been blessed to have had a few quiet weeks at the end of 2021. They offered a chance for the kind of reflection I often do a great job of just glancing over because I’m too occupied with other stuff and other people. And you know what I discovered?
I live with a lot of fear.
As much as I’m able to show up boldly and confidently in many parts of my life, there are others where I’m too afraid to do so. Fear can be healthy in a lot of places and ways, but I think there’s a tipping point for that benefit, and I’ve reached it. The ways in which I’m staying scared are no longer keeping me safe and unharmed.
The realization has turned into a quiet but clear focus for 2022: courage and love.
I haven’t chosen a “word of the year” for a few years, but this feels right. Love is always central to me, and the combination of love with courage feels like exactly how I need to show up right now – for others, absolutely, but especially for myself. I don’t think one of these things has to be sacrificed in order to have the other.
Anyway, the energy of courage and love in the face of fear is flowing through me, and maybe that energy resonates a little with you too right now. But whether or not it does, and whether or not you’ve chosen a “word of the year,” I hope whatever focus you’ve tuned into is flowing through you too. Here’s to another day and another year together on this Earth, living with courage and love.
To courage, love, and your word(s) of the year.
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