Word of the Year: 2016

Before last week I had never heard of the trend of choosing a word to define your year. Resolutions are goals I loosely make at the beginning of each January, but choosing a theme to focus my year on was never something that crossed my mind.

If you read my blog semi regularly, or even caught one of my latest posts, you'll know that 2016 started off with a bang. But not the good kind. Comparable more to that feeling you have when you feel you're at your most comfortable, about to drift into sleep, then wham! It's as if you fall to the floor.

I may have stayed standing when the boy I loved broke the news to me on a busy city street, but on the inside it felt as if I was falling hundreds of feet with nothing to grab a hold of. After spending way too many days at home, with blinds shutting out all light that might enter my now emptier apartment, I've finally found the word that will guide me through 2016: perseverance.

Quitting is not something I do very often, especially not if the task or person in front of me means a lot to me. I didn't choose the word perseverance because I have a habit of letting things slide, my problem is sort of the opposite. I put too much effort into relationships that are being carried by me alone, focus all my motivation on one thing at a time, and at times endure too much pain for the simple fact that I don't want to fail. Whether it be at school, home or in my love life.

Currently I've lived in Washington DC for just over a year, and in that time gave all my energy to a group of people who were content judging me on their perceptions of who I was. At the beginning of 2016 I came to the harsh realization that there was not one person in my contact list that I could call to come over and comfort me. Not one. So I'm changing that, one day at a time.

While I've always been a hard worker, I focus my efforts in all the wrong places sometimes. For years I've loved blogging, but I've let it slide ever since I graduated college. For a decade I spent imagining what my life in DC would be like, only to give all my focus to a group of people that I never dreamed of wanting to spend time with.

Related Post: The Cost of Living the Dream

With all my new found time I'm focusing my energy on two things: forming a community online and forming a community in real life. 2016 will be the year I finally turn my goals into actions. January is about to end and so far I'm doing pretty well. I have a few phone numbers of some pretty cool people I've met this month and my blogging is finally catching stride.

The only thing is, this is how it always happens. I catch some motivation, see progress, then I get caught up on one thing or person and let everything I've worked for dissolve. Not this time though. 2016 will be the year I put my all into my blog, even when my stats dip and my followers disappear. 2016 will end with me surrounded by friends, few or many, but I won't ring in the new year alone.

I've worked so hard to find my writing voice and move my ass to the city, and like hell I plan to enjoy every minute of it! All while sharing what the twenty something experience is really like. Hint: it's not breakfast at midnight and falling in love with strangers.

I hope you jump on this journey with me to not quit our goals this year, because they are just too damn important to set aside for some temporary happiness!


Do you have a word for the year?? If so what is it, and if not, what's one thing you desperately want to accomplish in 2016?