A Word to Remember

Does anyone else feel like 2025 has had a slow start?  I’m guessing the lingering cold and snow has something to do with it.  At the turn of the year instead of making a list of resolutions for myself, I started choosing a word to champion the next 365 days. The initial idea came from my thoughtful sister, who has been my personal therapist for 37 years, pro-bono I may add. Our professional relationship started off sketchy, as most of her suggestions landed me in trouble with my parents; but I tell ya, as we grow older more wisdom peppers through that needed nonsense, and it’s worked out pretty good for me. 

Last years’ word was walk. The word came to me as I was - that’s right, you guessed it - walking.  My wonderful mother-in-law asked me if I wanted her old treadmill to make room for an upgrade. Knowing myself well enough, organized exercise is at the bottom of my to-do list, but I felt this was a good reason to give it another attempt without a losing investment. I wanted to start moving my body more during the winter months anyways, and walking my way through 2024 sounded like the perfect start to the year. 

I walked every morning. Sometimes I would work while walking, and other times I would watch whatever occupied my three-year-old son to buy me more time.  During my walk, my thoughts would create scenarios of being able to reflect back on this whole experience and proudly report that I’ve walked hundreds of miles along with an incredible health goal achieved. Humility settled in one day as my cocky walk turned into a brisk jog, and my gifted machine turned on me in a nano-second. The treadmill came to a complete stop mid-stride, and it felt like my own heart grew muscles in the moment just to throw my entire body to the floor.

I was determined not to let that stop me from walking on the treadmill, but my mornings turned into an anxious walk of shame.  Some mornings I’d make it through without problem, and other mornings I’d again be flying off the machine like a ragdoll.  After the treadmill collected dust for a couple months, I finally said goodbye to it.

In a way it was a personal failure; I didn’t follow through with my daily walking goal.  But, the significance of the word itself held weight beyond the goal.  It reminded me to move more throughout the day, even if it was to take more trips up and down stairs, or to tackle basic strength exercises like lunges and squats more often. I reminded myself that the end result of where we are headed is rarely as important as the steps we take to actually move. When my grand year of walking humorously faded into the reality of life as it is, the word morphed into much more than physically walking through a finish line.  It opened my eyes to appreciate the unevenly paced steps of life physically, emotionally and spiritually.  

The farm I live on gently reminds me to appreciate the walk too. Everything on the farm happens one step at a time, going nowhere quickly. The steps taken to put meat on our table can take violent turns and abrupt stops, flinging us flat on our faces more times than not.  Yet, we keep on walking.

I’ve finally landed on my word for 2025, a couple months late in true walking fashion of course. This word is whispered to me often, and often ignored. I choose Create.