This blog is written by Good Will Ambassador & Heart-Centered Life Coach Meryl Russo

2023 is the 8th year that I’ll choose one word to guide, lift, inspire, excite and yes – challenge me. 

These words never leave me. They remain as important today as the year I chose them. 

• Year 1: 2016: YES
• Year 2:  2017: BELIEVE
• Year 3:  2018: WORTHY
• Year 4:  2019: ACCEPTANCE
• Year 5:  2020: LIGHT
• Year 6:  2021: TRUST
• Year 7: 2022: HOME
• Year 8: 2023: RECEIVE

Like a base that strengthens each time a new block is added, these words are a foundation that fuels my growth and love of life. They are a window to the present moment.

As a Heart-Centered Life Coach, helping others choose their word is one of my favorite things to do. Each year, the list of words I “hold” for others grows exponentially. To witness the magic and miracles over the year is breathtaking. Some people are intentional with their word, and some forget them. And yet, the magic still happens because the Universe is listening and conspiring FOR us. 

I choose a word:

• * To grow, question, shift, fall and keep rising. 
• * To remind me of my humanity, and the courage it takes – for all of us – to be a human being. 
• * To practice self-compassion. 
• * To examine the thoughts that I make up and acknowledge the illusion they create. 
• * To embrace all the emotions that are part of living. 
• * And, to find the humor in our collective humanity. 

A few years ago, a dear friend chose her word. I watched her 12 months unfold. At the end of the year, I couldn’t wait to call her. 

• — “Do you remember your word this year?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
• — She uttered a simple “no.” 
• — “Are you sitting down?” was my reply. 
• — “Should I be?” was her nervous answer.
• — “Yes, I think so.”

You see, through the year, I saw her enroll in a 6-month course with a world-renowned meditation expert and author, grow with a soulful group of people who studied and traveled together and become a certified Meditation Teacher. Before the end of the year, she launched a whole new facet of her business. She started speaking to groups, individuals, and running courses in her community. She was ignited. Her word? MEDITATION! 

Mic Drop.

As you choose your word for 2023, I invite you to explore a bit deeper. (Here’s how – a guide from me and Barbara Palmer)

This year, Laurie Bernhard, a dear friend and Campowerment camper sent me the following passage. Choosing my word took on an even deeper meaning. It is an excerpt from a letter written by Molly Patrick, co- Founder and CEO of Clean Food Dirty Girl; a plant fueled lifestyle brand. I share this with you – whether this is the 1st year or 10th year engaging in this powerful game. I share this because I realize that my words, every single one of them, continue to point me to the feeling I want to create every day. The feeling of freedom. 

Molly Patrick’s Love Letter:

“When thinking about the future and what we want, we often envision or desire material or physical things.The car. The house. A particular geographical location. The degrees. The career. Money. A body that looks a certain way. A certain lifestyle. We want these things because of how we think we’ll feel once we have them. So, we decide what we want, plan, and get to work on a quest for the tangible. With enough perseverance, energy, and intent directed at the thing we want, we will eventually get it. 

The problem is, once we get the thing we want, we usually don’t feel the way we thought we were going to feel. If we do, the feeling might not last long. So we wind up with a life dedicated to acquiring something we may or may not actually want. This isn’t good or bad. It just might not be the life that best supports who you are right now. 

Instead of asking yourself what you want for this next season of your life, ask yourself a question that speaks directly to your heart. During this next season of your life, how do you want to feel? When we honor how we want to feel, there is a natural and gentle unfolding of life that will lead us directly to those feelings. So today, instead of focusing on the outside, turn inward and pay attention. How do you want to feel?”

Ask yourself, what is the good feeling I want to carry with me though the circumstances life will present point blank? Peace, Joy, Love, Freedom? Something else? And through that inside- out perspective, choose a word that will point you there. 

The path may not always be a straight line. But I promise you it will be a worthwhile one.

. . . . . . .

Meryl Russo, helps this community not only find their word for the year, but implement strategies to learn to pause, settle into the world around them and grow beyond their self-inflicted boundaries. 

She is no stranger to the Campowerment year-round community.

Find Meryl on the schedule, here

Interested in 1-on-1 coaching opportunities? Or, how about grabbing a friend group to do a “Choose Your Word” session together to support one another? Reach out to merylrusso55@gmail.com to explore!

From the campfire & beyond,
The Campowerment Crew