Welcome to 2026 - Word of the Year

It has been such a struggle trying to consider my 2026 word of the year.  I looked through my blogs dating back to 2024.  My words included embrace and tend.  Both words convey positivity and love, and this year’s word also has to include love in one way or another.  Think love towards self and others. Kindness. Humility. Compassion. 

“Words are attached to meaning

and are not only the sum of blended sounds. 

Words are music for heart, soul and mind

Which are the gifts of believing and redeeming.”

I wrote this several years ago, but I was not really connecting the dots of how impactful the words I use towards myself and others are. Think back to the old childhood false narrative of “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  That is absolutely not true.  I bet every single one of you will remember an unkind word used towards you and you will feel that kick in your gut feeling from being teased.  Or an unkind word you used towards someone, and the hurt written all over their face.  How about your inner voice's words that do not demonstrate patience and kindness with yourself?

So, why is this important to me?  I have been working on repairing my hips for years, but I have also been working on a mindset shift.  I recall sharing with a life coach years back about how much shame I had surrounding my hip issues.  Did I cause this?  Was I overreacting to the pain?  She implored me to give myself the kind of grace that I would give others.  I took it in, mulled it around, agreed with it and ultimately took the advice at face value. There was little implementation.

I created this blog years back as a “Hopeful Hippie” with the idea that it would change from hip focused thoughts to a hippie vibe commentary. Peace, love and happiness.    I’m almost a year out from my last hip surgery with a very hard recovery, but the focus has not been about the physical recovery so much but rather a shift of my mindset. 

I have always believed that if we set expectations high, we will achieve.  I knew on one level that I could do hard things and I could surpass many expectations.  I did not realize though that the words I used toward myself could impact how I feel about my identity.

My first awareness of words being used towards me that made a positive impact was when two of my Physical Therapists referred to me as an “athlete”.  When I first heard that word being used about me, it literally was a WTF moment.  “You talking about me?” as I looked behind me to really see who they are talking about.  As I began wearing the word, I did begin to feel like an athlete.  Those words began changing my self-perception. 

More recently, I began working with a coach who has provided me with a transition from PT and has continued to help me in being comfortable and confident with my body and my abilities.  With that though there have also been lots of conversations about the power of words and what I’m telling myself (either positive or negative). 

That brings me to a gift that my friend and colleague had given me.  She had asked others to share words that describe me and had created a heart shaped word cloud from those words.  There were some amazing word choices, but two led me to an ah ha moment.  “Inspirational patient”.  That is what I read and believed, but I thought it was a bit odd that my coworker would describe me in that way. 

Remember, words have power! 

I realized that my internal voice was creating the vision of “inspirational patient”, but the story should have been that I am “inspirational” and “patient”.  I stepped away from the first version of where my mind took me.  I know that words have power and I’m “inspirational” and “patient.” 

So, moving forward, I’ve got some epic bucket list plans in the next four months because I’m allowing words to detail a different narrative.  For now, I’m just a girl who loves yoga, hiking, paddleboarding and mi familia.  I’m not a hip patient, but a girl with quirky hips. 

Words have the power to define you.  They have the power to create your identity.  You, my friends, have the power to dictate what words you will own and what words will own you. 

The words that you own hopefully will show love for yourself and others.  Know that “words have power”.  They can create stories that are not true.  They can also be the foundation of living your best life.  And that is what I’m doing!