Seeking Help for 2026

Idaho Falls, Idaho 
October 2026

 Here it is February 2nd, 2026 and it is not lost on me that I have not set goals for this year, or even chosen a word of the year.  Honestly, it has not been a priority of mine.  My goals and words have helped to guide me, encourage me and got me back on track on a number of occasions over the past 20 years.  Just look at my word list of 2025: Change, Gratitude, Health and Strength.  Yep. All of them had a main storyline in my life in 2025.  Change - so much change.  My grandson is at a fabulously fun age. My mom, sister and daughter continue to deal with change in their health which has changed my world immensely for the past 5 months.  Gratitude - I still constantly reflect on my illness in 2022 and am filled with gratitude with how far I have come physically and emotionally. My gratitude for my children and husband only continues to grow.  I have been very purposeful in showing my gratitude to strangers that touch my life in some simple way for offering me a free starbucks, delivering my packages or hanging a note of encouragement on the back of a bathroom stall door at Cleveland Clinic.  Health - I met with many doctors this year to be as proactive as I can be with my current and future health. Strength - I leaned on this one a lot.  I continued to focus on slowly building muscle after my year and a half set back beginning in 2022.  I have had to dig deep and find my emotional strength and fortitude to continue to move forward while dealing with an avalanche of life “crap” that was determined to bury me alive. 

So what about this year?  Selfcare and Self -protection keep coming to mind.  But that sounds so self centered, doesn’t it?  Even as I type these words, I am at a loss on how to follow it up. It is no secret I am a big advocate for self-care both physically, mentally and emotionally.  Maybe it is because I understand the connection the 3 directly have  on my body. I have shared with several people the importance of self-care suggesting that they need to give themselves the gift of self-care whether pampering themselves with a long bath, forgiving themselves and seeking a professional to help them navigate that process.  I have offered the suggestion of getting out into the world or taking up a new hobby or interest.(Side note: This advice is given by a person who, other than picking her grandson up at preschool, only left her house 4 times the full month of January).  Maybe the word is not for me to indulge in self-care, but to encourage it for others.  

Self-protection.  Ooof that is probably more of a warning to myself than a word of the year.  With all the challenges of the last half of 2025, there were several times my feelings were hurt. Oh poor me. With these pointed criticisms or one offs of people not accepting my generosity of spirit or being dismissed over someone’s differing and louder opinion, I have trudged up some old hurt that is just a part of my DNAat this point.  It was noticeable that others saw the chinks in my armor and shut me out. (Likely for their own self-protection.)  I was hurt. Then I was angry. Then I was sad.  I have tried so hard to become a better me and 97% of the time, I think I am that person.  But it takes so little to bring up my trauma feelings of not being enough, not being considered and not being wanted. Everytime, I think I can handle it. A harder situation arises and I am right back in it.  With family situations and I recognize it straight away as it is occuring wishing I could have a grace-filled response to the trigger.  But it is always the same thing.   I go negative or sarcastic  and for the most part I wait until I am out of the situation and in my car or home before I break down in the car crying and questioning “Why don’t I matter? Why am I here? Why do I let this get to me so badly?” Such a wasted response. Such wasted energy.  I will say that the wallowing and self-hatred generally only lasts until the next morning, but still, it is too long.  I hate how I allow it to steal my joy.

Joy. That is a word of the year from several years back.  It slipped from my grasp the later half of 2025.  I saw a friend recently and I told him I was thankful he stopped over.  We have such great conversations on so many levels.  Before he left, I thanked him.  He looked confused.  I explained that talking with him was another reminder on that same day that some days I need to actively choose joy. In the current political climate, family situations and being homebound due to the snow and cold, some days joy doesn’t magically manifest itself when I put my feet to the floor in the morning.  Even when things are hard, I have to choose joy and on hard days I need to actively seek joy.

Hmmm maybe I need to return to joy for my word of the year?