One Word Is All It Takes
A short time before the first of the year, I was chatting in DMs with a sweet friend about some struggles. She shared how her husbands MRT training had helped them through difficult times. I knew that MRT was military training, but had no idea what it stood for. I think she gathered that and followed up with the meaning. MRT= Military Resilience Training.
Immediately the word RESILIENCE lept off the screen at me. I knew what it meant, but once I read the exact definition there was no doubt that was MY WORD for the year ahead.
For the last several years I have been inspired to choose a “Word Of The Year” each January, but somehow {the word} always ends up choosing me…and this year was no different.
RESILIENCE: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.
I jotted the word onto a hot pink sticky note and stuck it right on my bathroom mirror. At the time I had no idea how much I would need this word to encourage me in the coming weeks.
Fast forward six months. Just like the hot July heat is wilting my hydrangea plants, that pink sticky note has seen better days. The letters are now smudged from shower steam, and the lines around it are decorated in toothpaste splatter, but it’s still there.
This year has presented some challenges I didn’t foresee. There have been mornings I’ve gotten up wishing I could spend the day in bed, only to be met face to face with that sticky note on the mirror. Silently, I recite the definition in my head and remind myself that God is giving me the strength to overcome. He’s giving me the RESILIENCE I need to recover from anything that’s troubling me.
Recently I made a decision to get my physical body back to healthier place. You know that place where my pants fit, my blood pressure is lower and walking to the mailbox doesn’t leave me out of breath. I’ve joined a gym and reluctantly re-instated the calorie counting app on my phone. I know that getting started on a health journey is never easy, but my 43 year old body is screaming in ways it never has before. It’s harder than ever to wake up while everyone else is sleeping, but every morning I’m greeted with that one word that pushes me to keep going.
If you don’t have an inspirational word of the year, it’s not too late to choose one. You can even borrow mine! I was first compelled to do this when I got an email from Dayspring several years ago. Candace Cameron Bure, my favorite celebrity and Dayspring brand rep, was talking about her word of the year. That’s all it took. I chose my first word that year. It’s funny how quickly we are influenced by things we see online.
Be influenced for the better and live everyday with RESILIENCE!