If it isn’t clear from the topics I write about, I’m super into motivational content. My regular podcast rotation consists of creators discussing wellness tips/prompts that have helped them navigate some of life’s toughest moments. This has also led me into a regular journaling practice, yoga, and other mental wellness rituals.
Something I’ve been hearing a lot of these content creators talking about is having a word of the year. Some suggest having a word going into the new year while others prefer to look back in reflection and select a word at the end. For me, I prefer to look back in reflection.
Last year my word was gratitude. You can read about this in my blog titled “Dear Florence”. This year my word is: transition.
A lot in my life has changed in the last 52 weeks. I finished college, moved across the country, and started my career. I chose transition because it does not indicate if a change was good or bad, just that one occurred. It doesn’t indicate if the change was hard or seamless. This year has consisted of both. If I’m honest, the last 6 months where most of the transition lies, has been challenging. There is an expectation that after you graduate college and start a career that you will feel fulfilled and happy right away, and if I’m honest, I find this expectation to be unrealistic.
I suppose I’ve wanted to facilitate this conversation for a few months. If you are a recent grad, and you are struggling, you are not alone. If people asking how things are going and if you love this new life that you spent a lot of time, energy, and finances to get, stresses you out. It’s okay. Because the answer might not be ‘yes I love it’. Instead, it might be ‘I’m doing the best I can with what I have in this moment’.
So yeah, life has been full of transitions lately. Some have been great and others hard; and that’s okay. Because I know that we aren’t always going to be at the top of life’s mountain, and we aren’t always going to be in the valley. At the top we get to practice gratitude and in the valley we get to practice hopefulness, patience and courage. One of my favorite quotes from Thedore Roosevelt states “courage is not the strength to go on but going on when you have no strength.” Courage lives in the transition.
Maybe you are on the mountain top going into 2023. Maybe you’re deep in the valley. Either way take a moment to reflect as you transition into the new year.