We've got a word for the military spouse community for 2016, and you're going to love it.
I've recently noticed a new trend. Instead of making full resolutions, people are doing something a little more simple: they are picking single words.
It makes a lot of sense, really. Studies show that resolutions don't work. They are too complicated, or they force the person making them to develop a complicated habit so far outside their norm that it is just never going to happen. About 25 percent of the resolutions made by people in this study were abandoned within the first week -- and by the end of the year only 8 percent of people who took the survey had achieved their resolutions.
Whoa.
Mantras, on the other hand, are much easier to keep. In Buddhist and Hindu tradition a mantra is a word or phrase used to aid meditation. But in our culture a mantra is a word or, more often, a phrase used for motivation. Whatever the subject in question, a quick google search will pull up mantra phrase options just for you.
I like mantras because they are easy to remember in a moment of crises or during a time that I'm questioning myself. They don't require habit changes. And you can't fail at keeping one.
But instead of a mantra phrase for the new year, I prefer the idea of a single word.
One word to live by.
I haven't yet decided on what my own, personal word will be for the new year. Maybe you haven't, either.
But I do have a word for the military spouse community.
When I think about you all, I envision a group of smart, diverse people from all walks of life who are willing to work hard for what they want -- be that a happy marriage, independence, education, career, children, family or something else -- despite abnormally large obstacles.
I think of ...
You, who are facing a long stateside shift of yet another deployment.
You, who are still trying to find work after your most recent PCS.
You, who are hoping to finish your degree before you move -- again.
You, who transferred schools and had to retake classes.
You, who are a shoulder to lean on when others around you are crumbling.
You, who are not afraid to admit that sometimes you crumble, too.
When you have moments of doubt, when you think this life isn't worth it, when you want to move forward but struggle, when you look back and don't know how you did it -- here is your word:
Unstoppable.
Welcome to 2016. Now own it.
