2009 Word-of-the-Year: COURAGE

Note: December is Word-of-the-Year Month at Christine’s Blog. As we roll into another New Year, each day will feature a new guest author who chose one word as a way of setting intention for her whole year. Today’s guest is Maggie Reyes. More about Maggie below.

cour•age n.  The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.

In late 2008 I discovered Christine Kane and voraciously read through many old posts of this very blog. When I got to the Word of the Year, I thought, Finally! A New Year’s Ritual I can wholeheartedly embrace! The idea of having a word you “live into” throughout your year just made my heart sing.

Immediately the word “Courage” came to mind.

I decided to live it with it for a few days before making this most momentous decision of my very first Word of the Year. Then the Universe spoke to me and said, “Yeah, aha, stop looking, THIS is your word.”

For proof that holy moments and sacred spaces can be anywhere you look for them, I invite you to join me as I am walking through the mall after I choose this word. Not the fancy, go-there-for-presents-mall.  The next door, go-there-for-socks-and-stumble-upon-epiphanies-mall.

So here we are, in the mall together and as we walk into HomeGoods there is a table made just for us, right where you walk in, that has like 64 signs piled high that all say one thing: Have Courage.

So of course, we do the right thing and buy one.

Then we go online to Target and get a bracelet with a charm that says courage. We love the sign, but assume that carrying a billboard as a reminder might become cumbersome now and then. Especially, for example, at the grocery store.

And we begin.

I say “we” because I feel like this blog is a community.  At my church our minister likes to call us “Spiritual Pioneers.” I see this community of “Uplevelers” as a group of us – Spiritual Pioneers all – growing, sharing, laughing, singing and sometimes crying together.

When courage chose me it had Big Plans for me. Courage doesn’t do “Little.” (Kinda like Christine herself!)

The first thing was letting go of my past – literally.  My past was all around me — in old boxes of mementos, papers, pictures, figurines — anything you can imagine, collected over the years.

I had to choose. I could have a beautiful living room, filled with Life and Joy and NOW, or I could have my own personal Private Storage – cardboard boxes stacked on high.

I chose Beauty & Life. I am typing this now looking upon my hubby reading a science fiction book, lying on our sofa, our Christmas tree sparkling with lights and shining with love.

Letting go of the “things” of my past was just a centimeter easier than letting go of the “thoughts” of my past. Old dreams I never pursued, but that kept haunting me. Old ideas that never served me but that kept creeping up like weeds on a farm. One by one they came up, and one by one Courage was there speaking into my soul. “It’s okay to let go…it’s okay not to know, it’s okay to just be, it’s okay…You are Okay.”

Christine says that transformation happens very powerfully not just from what you add to your life, but from what you remove from it.  I have seen that expressed so powerfully this year. I had the courage to let go of things and thoughts and then finally, I had the courage to remove myself from a relationship with a family member that only brought me distress. I learned I could love and forgive, and at the same time set a boundary of what I accept and how I will be treated.

This year I had the courage to go to North Carolina, be near so many beautiful places and spaces and just rest for an entire day, in my pajamas, and never leave my hotel room.

I had the courage to say, I want to go back to school. And register. (I start in January.)

And today, I had the courage to blog. For the very first time.

Yay me!  I also have the courage to celebrate myself.

Go ahead, live into it for one day…

What will you have the courage to do today?

——————–

Maggie Reyes lives in Miami, Florida. She loves music and chocolate and really comfortable shoes. It took her about 5 years before she realized Downward Facing Dog was a resting pose. And, she has a slightly different view on cubicles than usually posted on this site. Hers is a window to the world. She has done webcam interviews from her desk to South Africa, Australia, Romania, the Ukraine, and Philippines and all over the US hiring crew members for Norwegian Cruise Line. This is her first blog post.

Tagged as: christine kane, courage, new years resolutions, word-of-the-year

Add to del.icio.us Stumble It! Subscribe to this feed Digg it