2025 was not a gentle year. It was a year where grief and hope shared space. A year of chaos and overwhelm and striving. It was a year that asked for endurance and persistence. I held it together, most days. I persisted – I kept going, did the re-dos, made the pestering calls, checked off the to-dos. And while many days I felt shattered on the inside, I never doubted I would survive. It was just the length of the ordeal and the fatigue of the fight. My Word of the Year (WOTY – link here) was Patience, but it could more realistically have been Resilience or Endurance.
For my Word of the Year for 2026, I want to look forward, not back. I want to move from surviving, or striving or enduring, to thriving. They say where your attention goes, so your energy flows. And I want my attention and energy on a positive future, living fully again.
I considered staying with Resilience as a WOTY for 2026 as it came to be what I was in 2025. To celebrate the resilience that was so needed. And for acknowledging how far we actually have come in the recovery journey.
I also considered Rebuild as a 2026 WOTY to reflect a full recovery for our house and to achieve a sense of emotional recovery for me. Although the rebuild on the inside (of me) is more a renovation with rewiring needed! In our environment of building recovery, the terms rebuild, restore, and renovate all have subtly different meanings.
I considered the phrases/word Look Forward or Move Forward or Hope as in “step into the new year looking forward with hope.”. This feels aligned with of the Chinese New Year symbol next month of the Fire Horse, with its forward momentum and a dynamic, transformational year full of action and breaking old patterns. But it’s nothing grand, the inner transformation I want personally, nor is the rebuilding of the house a grand ambition. It’s more take it one day at a time, keep going. Resilience, inner awareness, persistence.
The year forward will be about forward progress, this I believe. But I also know it will be messy and progress will feel too slow. I know I will continue to struggle with living life fully yet feeling stifled and limited, with managing the uncertainty and delays, and with my tendencies to over-do to distract and over-react to triggers.
And then I read “With the right thoughts, the right actions, the right intentions, 2026 can be an improvement.” (see link to that blog inspiration here) I want 2026 to be an improvement, and I’m certainly an expert on thought and action!
I wrote in my journal on January 1, “And so the year begins with intention. Step forward with intention – Intention to do my best. Intention to be less reactive to the triggers. Intention to set and keep boundaries. Intention to get up every day and try to find the joy, the hope, the blessings. Live with intention, even on an imperfect day in an imperfect space.”
As the new year dawns, the road ahead feels endless (no house rebuild timeline yet). My spirit feels tired. But I’ve made it through this far, and I am still here, fighting the fight. I know I need to keep going, step by step. I know that even when life feels heavy, life is a gift. Each day is a new day to breathe, to try again, to step into the day with intention. Even when I start to second guess (once again) decisions made/actions taken, I need to take it one day at a time.
Look forward. Rise each day, spark that glimmer of hope, and lean on my resilience. Get back to fully living my retirement lifestyle vision. Be persistent and live each day with intention.
My 2026 WOTY is Intention.
What is your WOTY if you choose one?
P.S. Picture header is the cement block we got for Christmas (delivered days before the holiday) beginning to go into walls on Jan 3 – yeah, we have the beginning of walls!
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retirementtransition 
There’s a home blooming!! So happy that you can see visible progress finally. Are cinder blocks commonly used in your area? I guess maybe they withstand the storms and winds better than wood and dry wall. I lived in cinder block apartments in Panama so maybe it also has something to do with the climate? At any rate, so glad you are getting the first glimpses of your new home.
Intention is a grand WOTY but I think you are very intentional already. Will be interested to see where this word takes you. I chose flow. As in ‘go with the…’ I don’t always go with the flow and can easily get wrapped around the hub about some pretty insignificant things. Hope to do better this year and to be more aware of times when I am about to go haywire.
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Hi, yes concrete blocks are the most common build material for at least the “first level” which needs to be able to withstand flood waters. Many houses build full cement block ($$$) but ours will be wood on the second floor.
I needed to get back to being intentional. This past year I was more “going with the flow” and it was rough waters! Although I do like flow as a WOTY in some ways…. the acceptance of life aspect of it. Are you blogging again? where if you are (send me your link!).
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First of all, congratulations on the beginning of walls! What a long road it has been to this point. I hope things begin to move a little faster for you. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post on how you came to your word, and agree that Intention is the perfect word for your 2026. I just read an affirmation today that feels like it fits: I choose my next step. We can’t control the outside forces that sometimes steer the direction we go, but we do get to choose the steps we take. Here’s to progress in 2026!
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You are right – Intention is definitely about choice! it’s a good build for me to think about – choice in my reaction to situations. I already wrote this weeks post, but I’m going to add that thinking into my Intention.
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My WOTY is “Engage”. My introvert self tends to mostly passively consume classes, concerts and events. So my goal is to engage more with the programming I attend and maybe even to create some events myself.
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What a fabulous word! As another introvert, I can relate to how challenging it can be to engage with others. I’ve used the term also for myself to talk it being “engagement not mastery”, more about the journey than the goal post. Engaging in learning for the love of learning, engaging in hobbies for the fun, not the mastery of a craft. Maybe be another aspect of engage for you?
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Hi Pat – that’s a great choice of Word – and one I almost chose myself – I ended up with a version of it, but used “intention” a couple of times when I was trying to describe where I wanted to go in applying my Word. I think we have slightly different takes on it – yours is about forward movement and mine is more about deep diving, but I like that they’re both positive and “intentional” – curating and cultivating the life we’re choosing. Loved the photo of the walls going up – visible progress always gladdens the heart. Here’s to a great 2026! x
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Leanne, you’re correct in mine being about forward movement. I really need that this year as I feel like I lost a year, just waiting for things to happen. My next blog looks at my WOTY and how I’m restarting my life in a number of ways.
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My word of the year is Good-bye.
In this link to the awards show, I like Hwasa’s song by the title: “Good-Goodbye.”
We now shed the Year of the Snake & we gallop forth for the Year of the Horse! It is time to say good-bye!👋🫶
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Thanks for sharing. I liked the part about no-regrets as a Good Goodbye. Plus she has a lovely voice!
I’m trying to understand what the Year of the Horse and a new 9-year cycle will mean for me. It was interesting to look at the last 9 years as a continuum.
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