“Dig within, and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This
helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you're interested
in fully living life in the year to come.” ~ Melody Beattie
Of course, this week is the week of New Year’s resolutions and next week won’t be! Which means, obviously, the gym was packed this week and next week everyone will have fallen off the wagon. I did see, however, many people talking about picking words that they wanted to have define their year and so I thought I would jump on that bandwagon. But it should not be about picking words without making it part of your lifestyle! Just like you should not make drastic changes with your diet or exercise if you cannot make it part of an ongoing change.
And then my mind (as it usually does) wandered to about this time last year. I was in the beginning days of recovering from another hip surgery and in the early stages of boredom. I was depressed and needed to get myself out of the funk that I was in. I thought back to my diary writing days as a 13-year-old girl and how cathartic writing was. I also thought back to the movie, Julie and Julia, that came out in 2009 and my enthusiasm to start a blog then (which I never did). So, this blog was born a year ago to ease my boredom, to talk myself into positivity and, maybe, help others along the way.
My thought was that I could transition this blog from a Hopeful Hippie blog to a Hopeful Hippie blog when I was fully healed. What? That makes no sense. So, the focus was to initially be about “hip” recovery and support. I figured once I got past the “hip” issues, I could transition into a “hippie” vibe kind of blog – peace, love, positivity. That kind of hippie stuff – but not “hippie” as in purposefully having inch long underarm hair. (Definitely not my cup of hippie tea!) But, my plans changed. I’m still in the orthopedic “hip” mode. I’m still also very hopeful and a little more hippie-ish (ie. whole plant-based food eating yogi).
So, the two words that I am putting out there to guide this year for me are resilience and empowerment. Why those words? I feel that they are the foundational characteristics that I need to cultivate to have continued hip success!
Empowerment was a concept that I used when my father was fighting a grade IV brain tumor. I was fully prepared to ask the tough questions, to understand the diagnosis, the prognosis, the treatment and all of the expectations. So much so that I had a Stanford neuro-oncologist look at me after my gazillionth question and wondered, “Are you a doctor?” “No. Just an informed consumer” was my smart-ass response. At the end of the day, having the questions answered gave me the sense of control that I needed to manage an uncontrollable situation. It gave me the ability to have no regrets in my dad’s care. Being empowered means being able to use my knowledge in positive and persuasive ways. It means making educated decisions that will best serve me. Being empowered means having the confidence that I can overcome challenges.
Resilience is that idea of being able to bounce back even when you feel like you are the Wack-A-Doodle-Doo in an arcade game at Chuck E. Cheese. You get whacked, you pop back up for air and then you get whacked again. Again and Again. Resilience, to me, means the the ability to look forward in spite of the current situation. It also means being flexible during difficult and frustrating situations.
So, why not a different adjective? Honestly, I feel that these words already could be descriptors for me. I am empowered and resilient. They are not words that I’m going to use to make a New Year’s resolution and abandon a week later, but they are traits that I can continue to cultivate as a way towards a forward thinking and positive outlook.
What are your two words that you will choose to help define your upcoming year related (or not) to your hips? Your outlook? Your hope? Get out your dictionary or your thesaurus, find the words and then own them! Get to it.