2009 Word-of-the-Year: TRUST

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 Emily Long. More about Emily below.

I drew my word for 2009 out of a hat.

I had narrowed my choices down to three but kept getting stuck when it came to picking just one. So, into a hat they went and out came….Trust.

Uh-oh.

I knew it was my word by how strongly I wanted to put it back and draw out one of the other two. I had never really been what you would call “the trusting sort.” I wasn’t entirely sure I was ready to learn to be! Simply keeping trust as my word was my first opportunity to practice trusting.

2009 has been a year filled with opportunities to practice trust. The opportunities to trust showed up in bigger ways like quitting my job and my profession without a vision of where to go next, taking several months off to rest, and starting a business – to name a few. Opportunities for trust showed up in smaller ways, too – listening to my body when it was tired, learning to take imperfect action, and even something as simple as trusting I could turn the phrase in my mind into a beautiful piece of poetry.

Trust showed up in countless ways this year. My biggest lesson, however, was in learning to trust that I am supported.

I’ve always been good at giving support. Receiving it? Um, not so much. Asking for it? Not likely.

Until I chose to trust this year.

I discovered that I am completely supported. Supported by the universe, supported by my body, supported by my family, my friends, and even by myself. I learned that I could receive support from someone and the world would not end, I would still be loved, and, much to my surprise, people actually wanted to support me.

The most powerful thing I learned about trust and support? I don’t have to wait until I’ve fallen apart or am in a crisis to allow myself to ask for it. I can simply ask for support. I don’t even really have to trust that I will receive it anymore – I simply know I will.

I knew this had really shifted for me when I found out a child I’d worked with as a therapist had died. My old pattern would have been to not tell anyone, hold my pain inside, and pretend nothing had happened while being miserable. Or I would have fallen apart, gone into a grumpy funk and, still, not talked about it with anyone.

What I did instead was go and talk to a friend. I cried. I talked about what happened calmly and clearly. I expressed my pain and my anger. I moved through it and let it go. I was supported. Completely and utterly supported in the process.

That simple act of going to a friend and trusting that she would be there for me completely changed how I viewed myself. I was no longer a cynic who didn’t trust anyone. I had become a trusting, supported person. I’m amazed at what the commitment to trusting in others and in myself has allowed me to create in 2009. I am immensely grateful to myself for facing my fears and committing to trust.

In 2010, I’ve decided to Shine. Because, really, after learning to trust, what I can do but take that and shine?

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Emily Long is a Social Media Assistant and Time Rescuer for entrepreneurs and creative people who’d rather spend their precious time on their genius work. Emily is also a published poet and writer. Click here to find her on Twitter. Click here to find her on Facebook.

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