What’s Your Word For 2013?

I seem to start off each new year of my latter adult life with a word. Some years the word is given to me, other years it is thoughtfully chosen by myself upon wanting to set the tone for the coming next year.

In this case, for the year 2013-it chose me.

Just a few days after the confetti was thrown, the champagne cork was popped and the goals and resolutions were scribbled down, the word came to me.

Catharsis.

Every single morning there it was, the first word popping into my head upon waking, which is weird for me as I hadn’t ever heard this word used a lot, and can pretty much guarantee I have never used it myself, although I was loving the sound of it rolling around in my brain. After about day 4 of not being able to shake it, I looked it up. I had asked Justin what he thought it meant and he said ‘healing’ of sorts, and I agreed that sounded right. The definition was of course very close to that but what I didn’t see coming was what the definition spoke to me on a personal level.

Here is what it read.

Catharsis:

• Medicine purgation, especially for the digestive system
• A purifying or figurative cleansing of the emotions, especially pity and fear
• A release of emotional tension, as after an overwhelming experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit.

Wow.

In my own stage of my life journey at this exact moment, this had/has so much meaning. I was especially excited and surprised by the digestive system cleansing! I have struggled for some time now with digestive problems and gut irritations, that I am still in the process of sorting out and learning how to get back on the right track through cleansing, diet and a healthier overall relationship with food, stress management, and the products I allow myself to be exposed to on a daily basis.

Other words through the years have excited me as well-like the year of INTENTION. There were also really rough years-a couple which I have chosen to sum up as the DESERT years. SIMPLIFY and SLOW DOWN were among favorites. I can’t say that these years and their themes have all have lived up to the goals which I had intended for them, but they set the wheels in my mind to work and get the ball rolling in the right direction.

I am SO very excited to see where my year of Catharsis takes me. I can say I have started in the direction of the definition though-Justin and I both started a two week cleanse last week, and I am juicing 1-2 juices every single day. Supplements of many kinds have found a new place in my everyday life, and I am loving how I am starting to get back to the basics of what is important in life and health, even though my past priorities got a little skewed along the way. But that is all a part of this personal journey, and without the mess ups in life, there would be no meaning to the word Catharsis, and I am just so very blessed I get the chance to experience it in it’s fullness starting this very minute.

So, what’s YOUR word?

Hey everybody my name is Kate and I am a newcomer to the blogging world! I’ve always been a person who values fitness and health in my life but I can honestly say that the past few years have really been a wake-up call for something bigger-something better.

I am excited to blog about my journeys alongside my husband Justin as we discover and delve into the world of possibility that awaits us both in this new year and in the years to come!

We hope the shows from Extreme Health Radio both encourage and inspire you toward living a better, fuller and healthier life as well. We are honored to be able to produce them and get to do what we are passionate about on a day to day basis and I welcome any comments. Thanks and God bless.