2022 Word - Walk

A few years ago my pastor introduced the idea of asking God to show you a word or theme to focus on for the year ahead. This has been something I’ve continued to do, and I’ve found that this provides me a great way to focus my year. The word for this year is walk.

During the last week of 2021, I reflected on the past year. The fantastic things that happened, a few things I regret or am disappointed by and wish to learn from, remind myself of the places God continues to show up in my life, and then try to hone in on what He’s trying to say going into the year ahead.

Throughout most of my life, at least my adult life, I’ve looked for shortcuts or ways to optimize most things. I mean, who doesn’t like a good life hack! This has served me well in some ways, leading me to achieve quite a bit. But, unfortunately, it’s also cost quite a bit. As I write this, I’m coming out of what feels like one of the most intense years I’ve gone through both mentally and emotionally, and unfortunately, another year that I’ve let myself dance a little too close and even crossed into being burned out.

The desire to do everything “right” (a.k.a perfect), to prove to myself and others that I have it figured out with a calm smile on my face, is something I struggle with a lot. When in reality, on the inside, I’m just running from thing to thing, questioning whether I have what it takes, and praying that I don’t screw up! Pretty classic imposture syndrome stuff.

Not precisely the fulfilling life that I think God has for me.

There’s this leadership phrase, “what got you here won’t get you there.” So what got me here… Reading books over the weekend (a.k.a, just working harder and sprinting) and quickly having solutions to problems or taking on additional projects because I now had the know-how and wanted to prove myself. But, this way of doing things doesn’t scale when the mindsets that need to grow, the habits that need changing, the internal battles that need fighting, and the meaningful relationships that need cultivating, don’t, and shouldn’t, happen at those speeds. It doesn’t even leave room to accept those things I’ve grown in or am good at inside myself. I’m learning, the hard way, that sprinting isn’t sustainable. And that the things that truly matter, the most profound growth and change, take time and can’t be fixed or healed over a weekend or even a couple weeks. The dreams I have, the goals I’d like to see accomplished, the relationships I wish to have all have much longer runways, and just running faster and doing more isn’t the solution to getting there.

So, what needs to be different? What needs to change? What I’m sensing is I need to be okay just walking. Walking down the path that I feel God is leading me down one step at a time and not being in a rush to leave it or have it all mapped out until I’ve reached the following path. While I’m walking, I want to learn to take in the beauty of every day and find joy in the opportunities that present themselves, rather than being hurried and sprinting all the time, missing what might be right in front or beside me.

This doesn’t mean I still won’t have goals and challenge myself. That will still happen. I think it’s healthy to challenge ourselves outside of what’s comfortable and what helps us grow. My deepest hope and prayer during this year is that I learn to give myself permission not to have everything figured in short order. To continue to be intentional, but find joy in all moments of life because I’m hopefully learning to see every day new, every day as being given what I need by God, and that because He is sufficient, I don’t need to chase down the next thing. God will have the next thing ready for me when it’s time for me to get there.

It’s easy to see people’s accomplishments and the final result of hard work without seeing or knowing all the work it often takes. So I want to get better at enjoying the hard work it takes to get where I think God is leading.

Here’s to walking in 2022.