What’s your 2021 WORD?

I’m sure by now you’ve all seen or heard about the trend of choosing a word for your year. I started doing this about 9 years ago and found it adds more focus to my life. This year I have chosen COURAGE for my word. Last year seemed to add much fear into daily life with so many uncertainties and, to be honest, I allowed fear to win too often. However, I gained the needed motivation from my students to persevere! As the new year gets into full swing, I have regained focus, reframed that fear from 2020, and am excited to tackle 2021 with more centeredness and space.

In order to move forward with courage this year I’m surrounding myself with quotes about COURAGE. (I’ll be sharing these quotes throughout the year with some other fun stuff!) All of the quotes will relate to the college process in some way. This is true for students and parents alike. If you’ve read some of my past blogs, you know mindfulness is part of my journey. Today, I’m starting with my first courage quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.

Courage is the power of the mind to overcome fear.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

For the next few months, seniors will start hearing back from their colleges about admission decisions. This is an unsettling time for many, filled with anxiety and yet again, more uncertainty. The fear of NOT being accepted can be a daunting thought that often paralyzes students into thinking they aren’t good enough. But this quote from MLK reminds us that our minds have great power and if we focus on the good (the overcoming part of this quote) in the end, we win. What I share with my students quite often is that what we focus on, grows. Meaning, if we focus on OVERCOMING fear and not the fear itself, we begin to believe what we say and live it - every day. The hard part? Having the courage to believe it with our whole being!

This past week many of us witnessed Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, read “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration. Wow. What a powerful example of overcoming fear, right? If you are searching for more courage in your life, read these words from Amanda. Then, read them again. And again. There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.

Let us all, students and parents, move forward through this college process with more courage.