Each new year, I chose to welcome the calendar change with a different kind of resolution. I select a word of the year. For 2021, I’m excited to share my word is Vitality!
My process didn’t start off to be about an Instagram-worthy post or a cute solution to fill podcast air. I actually started selecting a word long before I had either of those in my marketing repertoire. The annual word choice is one I stumbled upon while lying on the beach about five Decembers ago. Perhaps it was the lovely beach rhythm and rum-infused state of my mind or maybe it was a spark of inspiration that arose from the fact that I was truly relaxed.
No matter, the purpose of selecting a word for the year is actually to decide on a focus. In the ensuing years of selecting a word, I’ve found that my word was always relevant to the 365 days I used it as a focus, even if that wasn’t my intention at all.
I like the way one word can sum up a variety of goals that all roll up under it like an umbrella concept. I like the way one word can be said in a morning meditation (if only for 5 minutes, my current record…). I especially like the way one word can serve as a trigger point and a way to remind me to refocus my energy, attitude, time, or behavior back to my purpose.
Vitality for 2021
I have selected vitality because a sense of being vital, essential and useful is what I really need right now. I crave it. Vitality also is my word for the physical elements of it: for health, strength, bountiful energy, outright power mixed with grace. This is a state where I visualize myself even though it may not have manifested in my physical presence in the recent past.
I chose vitality because I think the feeling of health, energy, lightness, and ableness, is what I must have to achieve all that I’ve set forth as goals and all that I can offer as gifts to the world.
You see, I chose vitality because in the last couple of years I’ve felt and lived with a tremendous lack of it.
I’ve had some health problems in the last 2.5 years; I’ve kept them (mostly) under wraps. I’ve worked through them, smiled through them, cried through them, and just lived through them. I’ve had several surgeries. I’ve taken various medicines. Fortunately – EXCITINGLY – I believe that the “health problem” crap is a thing of the past. Yet, it’s left some crummy residues that I’m looking to shed: weight gain, joint pain, sluggishness, and scars. There’s more – but I’m done dwelling.
These must be put out of my life to leap into the next realm and I’m so excited to cast them away. I’m stepping into vitality today.