My Word for 2026: Peace

 

Some years I struggle to come up with my word for the year. Other tyears I jump on a trend such as "Thrive" for 2025. Sidenote, To be really honest, last year was not giving me much to thrive about. For 2026, my word came pretty easily. My word for 2026 is "Peace". Peace is a really beautiful word that has lost its true meaning lately. It has moved from a beautiful, soft word to being a throw away line. For this year, I am taking back peace and below I am sharing how I am working to have more peace in my life.

For those that don't know me and for those that may know me really well, what you may not know is I have a lot of anxiety. It's just how I am wired and it is something that I am working on. Therfore, finding moments of peace is a really important part of managing when I start doing the super freak.

The main thing I am trying to do to bring more peace into my life this year is how I am making decisions. When I am able, and not every decision in life can be made this way, but if something is not going to bring me peace, I may not be interested. Making simple decsions around adding more peace into my life will hopefull bring more quiet, more focus and more stability to my day.

Here are a few ways I am working to find more peace in my life:

Jesus Music in the Morning: During Lent last year, I decided I would listen to Jesus music on the first ten minutes of my commute. I commute into the city every day and the first part of my drive is actually very pretty. Parts of our neighborhood have big, beautiful old houses and I also have a view of the Potomac river for most of my drive. Listening to ten minutes of worship music while I drive really helps set the intentions for the day. 

If I am being honest, I do then switch to something fun like my housewives podcasts, which pretty much tells you all exactly who I am.

Reading at Night

I am not a great reader. I want to be a reader but several things get in my way. The first is that I am such an extrovert I have a hard time settling down to read. I am also super tired at night so I don't get through many pages.

Right now, I am trying to get into bed at 10 p.m. and at least read a few pages. Doom scrolling doesn't do me any Good, but reading will help slow down my brain and give me a little bit of peace before bed.

Ironing at Night

I am really Good about picking out my outfit for the next day and gathering everything I need before I go to bed. Where I get a little lazy is ironing the night before. I have been saving it until the morning but I find if I iron the night before, everything is ready to go and sets my morning up much Better. 

Fireplace YouTube Videos

I found these videos on YouTube right before Christmas. I think they are great when I need to find a little peace or lock in and get some work done. They really help me chill. You know who else finds these calming? Our new puppy Woodford.

Saturday Night Church

I really like going to church at 5pm on Saturdays. Church just takes on a differnt feel in the evening. I am also much more grounded when I am focusing on going to church. This is just an easy way to find peace.

These are simple ways I am trying to invite more peace into my life this year. I would love to keep the conversation going about ways to find more peace. If you have ways you incorpate more peace, please leave them in the comments below. Also, feel free to share your word for 2026 in the comments. 

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