As each year comes to an end, I like to look forward to the new year and choose a word or phrase to reflect a personal theme for the upcoming year. Normally I do this over the holidays, but the end of 2025 was unusually busy and 2026 got off to a difficult start with so many terrible things happening in the US that it was hard to think even a week ahead, let alone a full year.
But as one of my favorite parody social media accounts likes to say: “The horrors persist, but so do we.” We persist, and we resist. And we try to live our lives in a way that protects ourselves, supports our communities, defies the darkness.
With that in mind, I took the month of January to rest, reflect, and consider what I wanted to focus on for the upcoming year. We can’t all be Bruce Springsteen, writing a national anthem of the atrocities and calling them out live on stage. But we can find ways in our daily lives to make better choices, big or small, to align with our values and show those in power that we don’t support their regime of terror. We can engage with our community to support those in need, show compassion, and make the world around us a better place.
And in order to support others, we need to support ourselves. Put your own oxygen mask on first, as the saying goes. The upcoming year is likely to bring many more challenges emotionally, financially, and perhaps even physically, and I want to be able to meet those challenges without being overwhelmed.
So I decided that my word for 2026 is: Flexibility
- Flexibility to recognize my own needs – it is so easy to let family, work, and society push their own priorities over personal needs. And so often prioritizing personal needs gets called selfish. But those needs of rest, quiet, a break from the endless stress of the state of the country, must be prioritized in order to provide a solid base for everything else
- Flexibility to join community events – one of the wonderful things about my new town is the community engagement. From fun events like garden lectures, to community building events like art walks and peaceful protests, to necessary events like expanding the food bank to fill gaps in benefits, I want to be able to say yes, sign up, send funds, and get involved
- Flexibility to work with job chaos – working in healthcare is always a bit of a roller coaster, and this year looks like it will have some extra steep drops and sharp twists. So my goal is to be able to flex with those twists and turns and changes as they come, and not get hung up on adhering to a specific schedule or outdated task priorities
- Flexibility to vote with my dollars – the unfortunate reality of our society is that many corporations and even people will prioritize profit or political benefit over humanity and doing the right thing. So I want the flexibility to reduce spending at corporations, boycott those who are particularly egregious, and shop locally even if it means spending a little bit more. Or to donate to charitable causes when needed. Or to participate in national strike/walk-out days without fear of lost income.
I’ve been putting those Flexibility goals into practice for the past few weeks, and it’s not always easy, and the results aren’t instant, but with consistency comes progress. And so I’ll continue to take my daily walks, even if it’s just a grumpy stomp around the block. To set timers on my social media use so I don’t doomscroll for too long and lose focus on what’s important. To say yes to family requests and community events. To plan my garden and let the digging soothe my soul. To reduce my unnecessary spending and shopping at certain companies while increasing it locally.
Whether in personal life or community or even the nation, every small step forward is progress and eventually we can look back and see how far we’ve come just by taking those small, consistent steps.