I always thought the idea of a “Word of the Year” was dumb. Who can pick one word for the whole year? My friend, Melissa, encouraged me to pick on during our Bible study last year. It was towards the end of the year so I kinda cheated, but I still picked one.
If you’ve been following along on my Instagram, I’ve been trying to stop being such a chicken. I’m scared of everything and it’s kept me from doing so many things. Failure is ultimate fear therefore I don’t try or do new things. The Bible Study Melissa and I completed on the book Hidden Joy, along with encouragement from friends, really helped give me the push I needed to stop letting fear get in my way. With all of that in mind, I decided to choose GO as my “Word” for the remainder of 2019. Go for it, go to it, go away from it, just go! I went for it and finally started a YouTube channel after years of being too afraid. I taught a Handlettering class after being too scared that no one would come. I got another tattoo. I made moves.
When thinking about my 2020 goals, the word “GO” kept coming to mind, but in a different context than it did in 2019. I’ve been thinking on it and wanted to make sure it was perfect before I committed. Well, I’m in 100% to LET GO. Let (it) go. Let (them) go. Let (that) go. Anything that’s weighing me down and not bring me joy is going to be LET GO. A few things I’m hoping to let go of–debt, stuff, doubt, fear, and the list goes on.
I moved home almost 2 years and have had my stuff in a climate controlled storage unit ever since. I’ve been paying over $100 every month for this unit. I’ve sold most of my furniture and given a lot of stuff away. There are some things that I want to keep, but also some things I can part with. If I haven’t needed it in almost 2 years, I probably don’t need it at all. The stuff I do want to keep will be moved to the storage barn behind my house.
Cleaning out the storage unit puts that $100+ back in my pocket to put towards paying off my debt. Debt is a topic I don’t discuss often because I’ve been embarrassed by it and it’s been weighing me down. I’m letting go of that shit too. When you say “debt” the judgment gets REAL REAL quick. Friendly reminder, (for me too!), unless you’ve walked in that persons actual shoes (no one else has walked in mine, but me), you don’t get to judge their situation. PERIOD.
Most of my debt came from being young, dumb, and irresponsible. Some it came from depression. Some of it came from a few stints of unemployment. Some of it came from moving for different jobs. I did what I had to do to get things done. When I was so depressed, I was SO desperate to have even 5 minutes of joy that I shopped and bought things I didn’t need. I know now that that was a bad idea and not a healthy habit, but at the time it worked. Those few minutes of happiness were worth it to me. I should regret that irresponsible spending as I’m still, literally, paying for it years later, but I don’t. I learned a VERY valuable lesson and I’m hoping to be debt free by the end of 2021, early 2022. I also want to work on building up my savings account as well.
I saw a MyIntent bracelet on Pinterest years ago and thought they were cute but never ordered one or thought anything else of it. When I was thinking about my word for this year, I was scrolling Instagram and saw an ad for MyIntent. I went to the site, clicked on the Word Finder, and when I saw “LET GO,” I knew that was it. I ordered a Custom Round Bracelet and I’m going to wear it every day as a reminder. This organization has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, Extra, and more. I love what they stand for and support. Our words carry so much weight, meaning, and impact and our choice of words has so much power. I’m choosing to give my words the power to change my life, and maybe someone else’s too, for the better.
This is not sponsored by MyIntent. I bought the bracelet myself.
However, I’m not going to lie, “H – E – double fuck” was a runner up because that’s just hilarious. Sorry if that offends you but it made me laugh.
the Hannah Hardy 
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