Resolution in a Word

Today I wrote my first check of 2026. It was unnerving because I just got used to writing 2025 on checks, as if the muscle memory took all year and now the rug is being pulled out from underneath me. The act of writing a check in the first place bubbles up a general fear that I am actually a complete boomer locked in a Xennial body. Can you relate?

Middle age brings both a sense of some dread and IDGAF (flip! Read: flip). I literally can't peruse a restaurant menu anymore without some +1.25s, and I'm in a constant fight against my body to sustain things right where they are. On a more internal level, not only have I ditched perfectionism (good riddance!), but I've waved goodbye to the pressure of overachieving. You can't take the Enneagram 3 out of the person, but you can certainly change her ways.

So I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed bless-her-heart Christine from her 20s (living in 2026) would have artistically crafted a swoon-worthy list in Pinterest for all the world to share and applaud. But today? I can't even remember when I stopped making resolutions, but I vaguely recall that sometime in the past five years, I made a practical one to brush my teeth twice a day. (That should give you some needed context on life as a single mom.)

Instead, for the past few years I've chosen a word of the year. I saw it on Instagram and it resonated with me. (See, I'm NOT a boomer!) My word for 2023 was relief. My word for 2024 was hope. In 2025, I never picked one, probably to prove to myself that I didn't have to cause, well, growth. This year? It jumped out at me, ironically. My word for 2026 is leap.

It's fitting because I need to dive in headfirst into some things this year. First: work. Professionally, I'm going to try a new job and it's nothing I've ever done in a market I've never worked in. And I'm so energized and excited!

Carla needed some TLC after I hit the wall with the right passenger trunk at 45 mph, but I was fine!

Second: racing. I never blogged about it, but I crashed my new-to-me race car last year in March at my first weekend. 🙈 The entire year of track events was an attempt to believe in both the car and myself as a driver again. I'm still getting there. My driving simulator is set up anew, so I have no excuses. Third, writing. Part of spending time punching this out on the keys is because I've missed posting as a way to process. I just need to do it, so here I am.

This year, I don't know how many posts I'll share, but however many it ends up being, it will be enough. I don't know if I'll FINALLY get my racing competition license, but we'll see. I don't know professionally if I'll make it. Time will tell. I don't know if I'll have to buy twenty pairs of new reading glasses because the +1.25s aren't enough anymore. (Please, God, anything but that.) But with grit, stamina, and grace, whatever this year looks like, I will delight in looking back at all the risks I took when I close the books on 2026.

What's your word for this year? Share in the comments!