I recently shared some links about the idea of choosing a word to guide your year. Did you click through? Have you chosen a word for the new year?

I’ve thought a lot about how choosing a word to guide my year. I’ve gone between active words and passive words. I’ve thought about adjectives and verbs. I’ve considered words that have two and three meanings.

At first I thought I had settled on a word that I’ve heard too many times over the past several months,

BRAVE.

But while I know it’s necessary to be brave, I’m not sure it’s a word that should define my year. If anything I’ve learned that it’s hard to be brave but sometimes even harder to be vulnerable. So, to choose BRAVE as my guiding word seems an unworthy challenge.

Instead, I thought I would choose a word that I can aspire to. A word that can help me focus my intentions on something positive and calming. A word that can be celebrated, danced and written,

GRACE.

noun: elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, oraction; favor or goodwill; mercy

verb: to favor or honor; to lend grace to

The Hemingway quote, above, “Courage is grace under pressure,” reminds me of how diamonds are made—coal under pressure. I like to believe that by fixating on grace I will find more courage for the everyday. And by showing grace toward others I hope to be more accepting, more patient (the latter being one of my mini-resolutions for the year.)

Did you choose a word for the year? Do you still need a word? Learn more here, here and here. I’d love to hear your word or your intention for the year.