What's Your Word?

Happiness, courage, passion, creativity, hope, bliss, humility, presence, purpose …

I could sit here for days brainstorming a never-ending list of powerful words that are so much more than familiar collections of letters on a page. Call them mantras or missions but in a very real sense, these words are the closest thing to magic we have in this world. When you select your word, it can change the trajectory of your entire year and impact your entire life.

That’s exactly what happened when I found mine.

Let’s back up and talk about how this all began. I was reading “The Desire Map Experience” by Danielle LaPorte, and the heart-centered leader outlined an exercise to identify your core desired feelings:?Decide how you want to feel, she wrote, then pick a word that most accurately describes the feeling.

So I did.

The word I chose was “ease” and the selection process was?easy –?ease is a feeling I want to experience in everything I do. It’s the absence of difficulty or effort, and that was exactly what I needed in my life. I realized that forcing and struggling, trying and striving just weren’t working and I didn’t like how I felt when I kept pushing myself rather than easing into what I needed to do. Ease helps me align (another word I love) and alignment means I’m working?with?external forces rather than against them. It’s like setting my sails to work with the wind and of course, enjoying the ride.

With this word now consciously placed at the forefront of my mind, I found that it faithfully followed me everywhere I went. If I was sitting in a stressful meeting, the word floated into my brain like a warm, spring breeze and suddenly, I felt it.?Ease. If I was about to film a video, nervous to talk on camera, I’d think about the word and a sense of ease replaced the worry. If I was staring at a long to-do list, immediately tensing up about the tasks ahead, I brought ease with me and the tension disappeared. I no longer relegated “ease” to that feeling of relief after my projects were through; ease became a component of the process, making every moment of the work enjoyable, not just the last one.

OK, I told you my word. Now it’s time to tell me yours. Leave a comment and let me know! If you don’t have a word yet and decide to choose one, I’d love to hear how, like it did for me, your word changes?everything.

With ease,

Kim

P.S. I always have fun looking up words and choosing the one that speaks to me most. In my mission statement, I selected “remarkable” over “extraordinary” and opted to use “unrivaled” vs. “innovative.” The selection was purposeful and intentional, getting to the core of my desired message. Not sure where to start? I love using Thesaurus.com to discover new words to use.