This post is a little late- most people post their “one word for the year” at the beginning of January. But if there is one thing I am supremely good at, it is being late. So consider this post the most ‘on brand’ thing I have done so far this year :)

I have always loved the concept of “one word for the year”- choosing one word to be your theme for the year. I have chosen a word every year for the last four years. 2016 was the year of persevere and was all about surviving a job that was chaotic, difficult, and resulted in some of my best stories. My word for 2017 was thrive- that year, I started a new job and got engaged. The following year was all about settling into marriage, a new house, and a new role after a promotion so my word was (fittingly) establish. Last year’s word was Positivize or “to make things more positive” and was chosen because I tend to be super critical and fall into catastrophic thinking easily. I tried to see the positive in everything despite having one of the most difficult years of my life.

My one word for 2020 is honest. I’ll admit that this is going to be a little bit of a challenge as I am not very good at being honest, especially not with myself. For a long time, I lied about where I was at mentally and emotionally, hiding my mental illness in order to maintain my image as a perfectionist. As a result, I kept people at arm’s length so that they would not see past my mask and see the real me. There are still times where I have to remind myself that authentic is better than perfect. So this year, I will be honest.

“Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.” - James E. Faust