I recently read this wonderful piece from Mom Cafe at http://themomcafe.com/one-word-worthy/ on LinkedIn and have to share it here ~ so wise and inspirational. Like a lot of women I sometimes feel overwhelmed by work and home ~ being employee, sister, daughter, mom ~ and forget that I too am Worthy of my time. Enjoy!

One Word For The Year: WORTHY

Many people choose a word to be their focus for the New Year… Have you seen them? They’re everywhere. People are claiming their mission with their word, and I love the intention behind this idea. I’ve thought a lot about different words and what would be a good fit for me in this season of my life. There are endless possibilities. What to pick, what to pick, what to pick…

Ah, so many words that could prove beneficial for us all, yes?

But there’s this one word that’s been floating around in my head for weeks now… just waiting to land in my heart. It keeps circling around where it needs to descend, but it just keeps hovering above- unable to find an open runway to land. I wait patiently for the click of the landing gear to lower so I can finally allow it to settle onto the ground of who I am. There are so many interferences keeping it from me. The weather of the world does that, you know? But I’ll hold on until the conditions are just right to permit entrance of this one word into my life, my heart, my every day.

WORTHY.

Yes this.

As I dance with this word way above where I am, I wonder if you might need to take its hand too. Let’s do this together… Lets define our worth with a clear pathway to land right in the very heart of us all, shall we?

We are WORTHY.

We are WORTHY of respect. Of receiving it from those we love and those we know and even those we don’t know and love. We deserve to be treated with honor and integrity- and we must give that respect back to others. Let’s teach people how to treat us, and teach them well. We owe that to ourselves. The greatest way to show people how to respect us is to respect them. They may not carry the lesson through, but we will be better people for having done the right thing.

We are WORTHY of love. Of receiving it and of giving it. Love can be difficult, terrifying, excruciating, amazing, and steadfast. We are WORTHY of being loved, even when we feel unlovable. We are WORTHY of diving down and digging deep into the trenches of what can sometimes be messy and maddening- but also glorious and gratifying. Let’s give ourselves permission to invite others into our hearts to take up residence there. Love does not have conditions. We must understand this fully.

We are WORTHY of dreaming. We all have secret passions, smoldering fires that need to be ignited by our own breath. Failure is never permanent… nor does it demand our surrender. Have we lost the will to go for it? Have we become complacent and exhausted in the long road that seems to lead us nowhere? Are we just too distracted with all those other responsibilities to even entertain the possibility? We can’t give up on that dream. We deserve more… GO. GET. IT. One bold step at a time.

We are WORTHY of success. We have every bit of potential to rise victorious in whatever we pursue. We deserve a shot and a place on the platform of life. Let’s believe that and pour our efforts and energy into our dreams. It’s time to take those risks. We must keep going forward, even when we feel defeated. We owe it to ourselves to reach for IT. Work toward IT. We have a right to be successful. What is the very definition of success? What does it look like? Let’s find our determination and motivation to work toward those goals.

We are WORTHY of selfishness. Yes that. Each one of us deserves to make decisions that fill us, feed us, and fuel us. It’s critical to our own health to take that time for ourselves and do those things that make you feel centered, rested, content. Selfishness is nourishment we all need and deserve. If we don’t invest our time and energy into that, we will starve. Denying us the right to take care of ourselves is a form of punishment that we don’t deserve. Let’s treat ourselves to wellness, okay? It’s time to identify our needs and honor them.

We are WORTHY of every emotion we feel. We are utterly human- therefore we will feel ALL the feels. We must honor them. Each one is a marker to help us navigate our path. I think so many people live their lives building barriers around their emotions, putting up safety guards and protective shields in order to function. We owe it to ourselves to cultivate a deep awareness of who we are through identifying and expressing our feelings. All of our emotions are valuable, and each one deserves our attention. Feelings are the pulse of who we are. If we neglect them, ignore them, or push them away- we will never truly be whole.

We are WORTHY of forgiveness. Mistakes are made- both colossal ones and small ones. No one lives a sinless life. Our mistakes do not define us, but rather the way in which we handle them does. Let’s ask for grace. Offer grace. Forgiveness is the key to freedom. Healing is found in forgiveness. Dive into those messy waters and clean them up. Forgive yourself most of all. The greatest dagger used to kill who we are is shame. We are WORTHY of letting that heavy burden go. Let’s own up and clean up. Our hearts will be healthier for it. And yes- there will be people who don’t do this dance. If we offer our hand and it’s refused, let’s leave the dance floor knowing we tried. That is enough.

We are WORTHY of letting go. We try so hard, don’t we? We believe that giving up is for the weak, the defeated, the angry, or the discouraged. Truth is, giving up might be the greatest display of strength there ever was. There are times in our lives, when walking away from something or someone takes bold assertion and deep resolution. There are ongoing paths of decisions that keep us captive or fearful. There may be relationships that are toxic and jobs that are choking the very life out of us. There may be circumstances that are hopeless, no matter how hard we try to rectify wrongdoings, or heal old wounds. There are things in our lives that are unhealthy for us- we are WORTHY of Letting. Them. Go.

We are WORTHY of healing. Whatever wounds we have that are still bleeding out, scabbed over, or perhaps cut open once again- we must honor our healing and recovery on our own timeline, in our own way. Healing is hard. Healing is heavy. It’s time to pull back the covers and take a look at the aching parts of who we are. Let’s care for those layers tenderly. We owe our pain the attention it deserves. Though it may be a treacherous task, our eyes will adjust and see that whatever is haunting us CAN be relieved of its job. There’s help. We can seek counsel and support from trusted friends and professionals. We are all broken in various places. We are not alone. We all need mending.

Each and every one of us is WORTHY of being a spectacular human being. We have the ability and potential to be the very BEST person we were created to be. Are you there yet? I’m not. Let’s keep going. Let’s keep believing in ourselves. Keep searching for our truths and discovering our dreams while healing our wounds. Let’s take those bold steps toward health and wholeness and work hard to get there. Let’s uncover those murky layers of shame and let go of things and people that hold us back. Let’s take risks and celebrate our scary bold steps toward success, freedom, and fulfillment. Let’s let love in, and allow ourselves to open our hearts to forgiveness, and tend to all the emotions that are deeply embedded in who we are. It’s time to realize our WORTH.

Don’t underestimate the value in YOU.

And I’ll try to do the same.