My 2023 Word of the Year...
Hey loves, a few years ago I started the practice of coming up with a word for the year in lieu of a making new year resolutions. I am so excited for this year’s one word and how it is going to change my life. After much prayer God finally confirmed my word for this year.
I am a perfectionist to the core, you know the kind who will over-water plants, the person who over analyzes everything, and doesn’t have an easy time letting things just unfold.
The word that God put on my heart was… Ease. Despite it sounding like a passive word, ease actually takes effort. To allow ease into your life requires Faith and Trust. Ease asks that we don’t always know how life is meant to unfold and to let go, to live in peace and harmony and at one with the flow of life. Ease for me will be mindfulness and a presence of mind that my journey is being guided by God and that all I have to do is follow his plans and purpose, on this journey by allowing his will to be done and taking action when the time is right.
VERSES ABOUT LIVING at Ease
Philippians 4:13
1 Peter 5:7
Matthew 11:28
Isaiah 26:3
John 14:1
James 1:2-4
As we are ending one year and beginning another, I like to come up with a “word for the year.” For 2023, God dropped the word EASE in my spirit. Choosing a word to focus on, as opposed to having a New Year’s resolution, has proved to be much more successful for me. Setting a goal, or New Year’s resolution, ends in one of two ways… success or failure. Whereas, choosing a word of the year is like having a theme to guide your everyday decisions by. My word helps shape all the decisions I make and keeps me focused on creating the changes I desire in my life.
From my Oxford American Dictionary:
ease n. 1. freedom from pain or trouble or anxiety. 2. relief from pain. 3. absence of painful effort. v. 1. to relieve from pain or anxiety. 2. to make less tight or forceful or burdensome. 3. to move gently or gradually. 4. to slacken, reduce severity or pressure, etc… at one’s ease: relaxed, not feeling awkward or embarrassed.
The last couple of years have been filled with stress and anxiety. I’m ready to let go of that. Maybe you are, too. No wonder EASE feels like such a perfect word for me.
EASE is a mindset.
Choosing a word for the year is about choosing a mindset.
It’s about paying attention and being mindful. It’s an intention and the commitment to follow through with the intention.
I see a year of EASE not about changing the situation but changing my perspective within the situation.
THE WHY
So why did I choose the word Ease? Most over-achievers like me ( raise your hand if you’re with me!) struggle with the idea of letting things be easy. We think that unless we’ve worked HARD, )often sacrificing our own bodies/time), then what we’re doing/offering/being isn’t worthy. So for me, ease and worthiness are tangled up. My prayer this year is to untangle them. I want Ease without self-judgment, and I’m excited to see what unfolds when I let go ( even more) of my striving energy. Less striving, more Ease. Less hustling, more alignment. Less working against the flowing more allowing it to be easy. Less self-sabotaging resulting in struggle and more conscious, sacred Ease. Less complicating everything, more simplicity. Less over doing, more harmony.
THE HOW
Are you wondering how I’m going to live with ease this year? Well, here are ten ways that I will be living at ease this year.
Let go of Shoulds. Be sure to follow your own guiding star, not what anyone else says you “should” be doing. Shoulds don’t let you make your own decisions. Shoulds come from a pace of guilt and lack of worthiness. Shoulds weigh on you and cause anxiety. Just. Let. Them. Go.
Focus on one thing at a time. Our society glorifies multitasking, but I feel most flustered and anxious when I’m trying to tackle more than one thing at a time. Multitasking isn’t about EASE it’s about fragmenting your focus. Do your tasks really deserve only part of your attention? Focus on one thing at a time and be present with everything you do. The other things on your to-do list will get their chance, too.
Don’t compromise on your principles and never do things out of fear or scarcity.
Return to your why. What drives you? What are you passionate about? What do you most want to bring into this world? When you’re focused on your why, you move through your days with more EASE. You have purpose. Maybe you’re not sure what your why is? Read my blog entitled, “Am I Doing The Right Thing”
Worry less about things outside of your control.
Breathe. Deep nourishing breaths. One following another following another.
Strive for peace at all times.
Remember to look for JOY always.
Turn to the pages of your journal. Journaling has been a lifelong practice for me. Within the pages of my journal, I can work out my feelings, figure out what I’m thinking, brainstorm ideas, clear out the clutter in my head, vent my frustrations… Any time I’m feeling down or angry or irritated or unsettled, writing in my journal helps me to find EASE.
Make a plan. Get your ideas down on paper. Schedule time for important projects. Literally write them on your calendar. Prioritize the goals you most want to accomplish and you won’t forget about them or be scrambling to get them done.
Listen, saying “we’re too busy” to do something really just means it’s not important enough to us. Just as our society glorifies multitasking, so too does it glorify busyness. Rushing around multitasking and being busy is the opposite of EASE. Letting go of shoulds, focusing on one thing at a time, clearing out clutter, making a plan… all of it will help release you from busyness. And that, too, has to be a decision.
MY ENCOURAGEMENT TO YOU
Listen, first and foremost it is important to be doing work that makes our heart sing. Work that we are passionate about. It’s amazing to find work that we would do even if we weren’t paid to do it! That’s might be a tall order for most. I am blessed to feel like this about my work as a blogger/influencer.
We need to find space for the creativity to emerge. We need space to breathe and step back, so that we can see things more clearly.
Sometimes biding our time bears the ripest fruit. Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing we can do. Just letting nature take its course and not interfering or trying to hurry things along too much.
Showing up to work as ourselves is the most liberating decision we can make. It creates a great sense of ease, because we are not trying or pretending to be someone else, or put on an act. This is so important, because we each have our own unique set of gifts, talents and abilities to offer . We needn’t compare ourselves to our others. Or try to be too much like them. We just need to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be, on any given day.
2023 is my year to lean into my purpose. Not in a grasping or gritty sort of way, but to trust in the work and effort that has brought me to now, to surrender to what I cannot control and to enjoy the beauty of being right where I am supposed to be. I will continue to allow my light to shine, sharing my love and being the best "me" I can be while continuing to reach my goals this year.
So here’s to a year of EASE!
What word are you choosing for this year? I’d love to know what your Word of the Year is and why you chose it. Leave it here in the comments to share with our community. Speaking it is a beautiful way to get things flowing. I’ll be praying for you as you embark on this new year! Let’s invite the EASE. I wish serenity and calm for each of us. I picture each of us tackling hard things with confidence and flowing through our days with lightness, finesse and grace.
Be blessed, loves! And be at EASE!
XO, Kangelia
