See what is and make a choice for better
Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is “authentic.”
Though, authentic is what you always get with me, I choose discernment as my word of the year instead.
Discernment.
“Grasp what is obscure” (Merriam-Webster)
“A way of seeing things” (Vocabulary)
“The power to see what is not evident to the average mind” (Merriam-Webster)
“To anticipate what comes” (Thesaurus)
I’ve always said my superpower rests in taking the complicated and making it understandable, finding the sliver of extraordinary and elevating it above the noisy clutter. I think every good storyteller needs that perception, that discernment to “grasp what is obscure” and “see what is not evident.”
Perhaps it's Word Hippo’s definition of discernment that resonates the most this past year:
“Something that has been learned from experience.”
© Wil Bingman
This year, I focused that discernment on what experience showed me on a personal level, to anticipate what comes if nothing changes or what comes if everything changes.
Giggle: Microsoft Editor suggested I change the word “anticipate” to “expect” in the previous sentence, but they don’t mean the same to me. Expect is too accepting of the action to follow; anticipate gives the power to me to know what’s coming and change the outcome.
I chose to change the outcome, to anticipate what I could gain from new experiences and look for my next sliver of extraordinary.
Discernment is to see what is and make a choice for better, for more, for me. (Judy’s definition).
As Scott Tatum says in Friendly Reminders: Lessons from a Self-Care Savage, “Stop looking for happiness in the same place you lost it.”
Get a book from my personal library
Friendly Reminders: Lessons from a Self-Care Savage by Scott Tatum (There is also a Kindle version, but I LOVE the hardcover book and leave it on my table to pick up when I need a pick-me-up.) On my wish list is the Spiral-bound version.
Trust your internal compass. One of my favorite guides is Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live by Martha Beck (Hardcover) (Kindle).