๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ญ?
It’s February, but still not too late to talk about my Word of the Year.
Back in 2016, when I launched the Let’s GROW Project, I decided I would focus on one Word for the Year instead of the laborious task of making New Yearโs resolutions. I chose BELIEVE! Since then, I have chosen TRUST, FAITH, COURAGE, OPPORTUNITY, and one year, I changed it up a bit and used a phrase – hashtagWhyNotMe.
Focusing on one word is a fall back for me when the going gets rough.
For 2023, I have chosen GRATEFUL. The word came to me while visiting Cuba in December. I saw so much gratitude on the faces of the people I interacted with, from the tour guides, the hotel staff and the regular people. I thought, if they can radiate so much gratitude in the simple things that I take for granted, I should be able to do the same.
The Word of the Year concept is not new. Melinda Gates wrote a hashtagLinkedIn post in 2019 discussing the reason she chose GRACE as her word for that year. She said, “A broken heart gives me urgency. A moment of grace gives me hope.”
The image below has several heart-shaped, hand-carved soapstones mined and carved by men and designed, painted and finished by women in the Kisii region of Kenya. Each stone has a word written on it.
These stones are sold by Vancouver-based Kasandy, and income from sales helps Kisii families have shelter, hope for the future and medicine. Thatโs what founder & CEO Jackee Kasandy told me when I reached out to her after a Globe and Mail virtual women entrepreneurโs summit last October. I enjoy hearing stories like these.
I ordered some of the stones with the intention to include one in each swag bag at Visioning 2023, but they arrived after the event as Canada Post failed to deliver as promised. They are being mailed right now.
My gratitude list would be too long if I start naming names, but to all of you who called my name in rooms when I wasn’t present; to all those of you whose kind thoughts and gestures made an impact, I am grateful to and for you.
Sometimes it’s hard to be grateful for the bumps encountered along the way, but every slight and rejection paved the way for other opportunities, or served as teachable moments. There is gratitude in that!
To paraphrase Matshona Dhliwayo, “If you have food on your table, clothes on your back, a roof on your head, and a dream in your heart, you [ought to be grateful]. I am grateful.
Why choose a Word of the Year? Melinda Gates stated, “Thatโs the power of a well-chosen word of the year. It makes the year betterโand it helpsย meย beย better, too.”
If I am ever tempted to complain, or be bothered by circumstances this year, focusing on being grateful will keep me centred and make me a better person too.
How about you? Are you ready to choose your Word of the Year as something to hold on to when things aren’t looking too bright? Comment below and tell me about your WOTY.
hashtagwordoftheyear
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hashtagdaisywright
