After reading about the concept of choosing a “word of the year” several years ago, I decided this year, I would jump on the bandwagon and pick one.
If you’re not familiar with the concept, your word of the year is something to give you a guiding light for your year. It’s something you can and should look to during the year to keep you focused and on track. And, it should help you clarify your priorities.
If you do a google search for “choosing a word of the year”, you will find a number of resources that can help you choose your word. I did not use any of them. My word kinda of just came to me as I considered how I want my year to unfold.
For 2020, I’m choosing the word “Relentless” to keep me aligned.
When this word appeared in my mind, I had the visual of the Incredible Hulk bashing his way through the world with non-stop aggression. Surely, this was not the meaning of the word.
I asked my wife what the word conjured up for her and she had a similar view. I think she said, annoyingly persistent like the cat when he wants dinner.
After spending the majority of the past year, trying to live with more kindness and gratitude in my life, why would such an angry word creep into my head?
I looked up the definition on Merriam-Webster, and found “showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace : UNRELENTING”.
As I continued reading, I switched over to the Thesaurus and read some of the synonyms: determined, dogged, unappeasable, unflinching, unrelenting, unyielding.
I was beginning to get a different image in my head of the word, relentless. I was now picturing a gentle stream meandering through the forest.
From an angry Hulk to a babbling brook is quite the difference. Still, they have commonality. Both just keep going no matter what is in their way. They don’t let anything stop them. They are unyielding.
The more I understand what it means to be relentless, the more I am convinced that I need it to be my North Star for the year.
My wife and I have goals for our marriage and our family that won’t necessarily be easy to attain in the next year. The only way to accomplish them is to be relentless in our pursuit of those goals. Like the stream wandering thought the woods, we need to just keep making progress. Whittling away, one day at a time, one step at a time, we need to just keep moving forward no matter the speed.
When working towards our goals gets tough, and it will, I can look to my word of the year and remind myself to keep pressing.
What do you need in your year? Focus, peace, forgiveness? Maybe, you want to be fearless or to celebrate life.
Whatever it is, keep your word in view all year, and let it be your candle in the window when you are out in the storm.
