As I have done the past few years, I have decided on a word for 2021. My word for 2020 was Balance, and I think that kind of didn’t end up happening too much for me because of the pandemic. I wanted to balance out my life in so many different ways, but I was prevented from doing it because of circumstances that were out of my control. I tried to balance what I could, but I know that what I wanted to do with the idea of balance just didn’t happen.
When trying to pick a word for this year, I wanted to pick it with the understanding that I might be isolated at home for some or most of the year. I know that a lot of things that I have in mind with different words each year involve doing something that doesn’t involve just me. I need to be around others to work on the idea. But I finally settled on a word that I think is perfect for 2021 (and if I’m being honest, was kind of my word for 2020 without me knowing it).
My word for 2021 is Patience.
I need to have patience in so many aspects of life. I need to be patient with the pandemic and what is happening. I need to be patient with getting the vaccine and having some sense of my old life back. I need to be patient with myself when it comes to my workouts and working on recovering from my eating disorder. There is so much that I need to be patient with in 2021. I think it’s the perfect word for me.
Even though I didn’t end up wearing my bracelet that much in 2020 since I rarely was out doing anything, I still ordered a bracelet for 2021 from MantraBand. I feel like that also makes me feel a bit more hopeful that I will be out and wearing jewelry this year. But even if I only wear it a few times, I like having it as a reminder even just seeing it in my room each day. And I do love the sayings that are on the packaging.
“Everything worthwhile takes time to become. Practice patience with others, and with yourself. Because there is nothing that patience and time can’t resolve.”
I feel like that perfectly describes why I picked patience to be my word this year.
The final part of my routine with my words each year is to change up the background on all the different devices that I use. I only include the word on my computer background (my phone and iPad are only the image without the word). But every year, I have put the word in the middle of the background image and I feel like I never see it. So this time, I moved the word to the side and I will see it almost all the time that I am on my computer. I like this change already, and it’s only been a few days.
I picked the image because it was pretty and I liked the colors. But after a day, I realized that it looks like Spaceship Earth at EPCOT. I wasn’t trying to make it a Disney thing, but it unintentionally became a Disney thing! I love that too and whenever I see the image it makes me smile.
I spent a lot of time in 2020 being patient and now I need to continue to do that and build up that skill in 2021. Patience is what will keep me safe and healthy. Patience will get me through this time. I know it’s not easy and I will have plenty of time that I’m impatient and frustrated, but I just need to keep reminding myself that patience will pay off and I will be able to get to the other side of all this eventually.
