2024; To live a life with Courage

Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is cor – the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant “To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.” Over time, this definition has changed, and today, we typically associate courage with heroic and brave deeds. But in my opinion, this definition fails to recognize the inner strength and level of commitment required for us to actually speak honestly and openly about who we are and about our experiences — good and bad. Speaking from our hearts is what I think of as “ordinary courage.”Brené Brown, I Thought It Was Just Me: Women Reclaiming Power and Courage in a Culture of Shame

Every year I pick a word to represent my focus for the year. I start thinking about it after Christmas has passed and you have that downtime before New Years. This year, I truly didn’t pick my word…it chose me. In between Christmas and New Years, I read a book by Brené Brown as well as watched her documentary; A Call to Courage. So many things throughout both the book and the documentary resonated with me that it was quite apparent my word of the year should be Courage.

What I found most interesting is there's a common misunderstanding that courage is the absence of fear in the face of a dangerous or threatening situation. This is not at all true. Rather, courage is about recognizing that fear, acknowledging its validity and then moving forward with what needs to be done.

So here's to a year of living life filled with Courage by forgetting perfection and taking action in my professional life. Learning I can only control what I can and to let the rest go. Speak up more often...my thoughts and opinions matter. Block out all the "noise," and negative voices. Forgive. Be Present and know it's okay to say no. Grow spiritually and believe in myself. I'm excited for all that lies ahead and may this year be one filled with growth; both personally and professionally. I’d LOVE to know what your Word of the Year is and why you chose it. Leave it here in the comments to share it with our community. Cheers to 2024! Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year.

xoxo,