When I chose EASE as my word of the year, I was looking for a more purposeful slow down in my life. It felt very different than 2024, when I chose DELIGHT to celebrate small joys and notice good moments more often. However, when I happened to reread my end of year summary about my year of DELIGHT, I was struck by how similar my reflections then were to how I am feeling now, near the end of 2026 and a year of ease. Without intention, ease became a continual reminder to look for the positives around me.
I think most humans living in the world today can agree that life can be hard. Adulting in the year 2026 is full of challenges, whether you face financial concerns (rising gas, groceries and living costs), whether you are struggling through grief or supporting aging parents, whether you are living alone or raising young children or working through a tough time in a relationship or going through a divorce or just trying to survive the dating apps, whether your job is meaningful, challenging, supportive, exhausting, overwhelming, or non-existent, and that is all regardless of your race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education level, political affiliation, and/or religion. The older I get, the more I realize that everyone around me is dealing with personal challenges that I don’t necessarily see or even know about in my daily life. I once captured a list of all of the life challenges that my colleagues were struggling through and it’s overwhelming to read, and those are just the ones I was aware of at the time.
I tried a number of strategies and habits to build EASE into my life throughout 2026.
- I continued my daily meditation work
- I build up a regular exercise schedule that including joining a Pilates studio and adding to my at-home equipment
- I maintained my weekly walks at the bay with a friend every weekend
- I continued to travel as much as possible, adding in a new travel friend who is a JOY to be around
- I found new music that met my moods and lifted me up
- I began using a vibration plate each morning and spending 10 minutes at the end of each day laying on the ground with my legs up against a wall (two ideas that are supposed to help with lowering cortisol levels)
- I practiced more deep breathing
- I wrote in my journal
- I began using Duolingo to study new languages
- I got back into my hobby of building Legos for fun and relaxation
- I got out in nature as much as possible
- I started to cultivate a new hobby of bird watching
- I hopped on FaceTime calls with my nephews
- As always, I read a lot!
Whenever I happen to hit a speedbump in my own life this year, I looked for the small delights around me, and that was one of my best strategies to reach for ease. Thanks to my work in 2024, which was an exceptionally hard year for me personally, I have gotten better at finding the bright spots, and seeing the good despite hard circumstances. This helped me a lot this year, and was something that I brought into my work and my personal relationships when others were struggling in their own tough times. Some days it’s easier for me to see the good, and other days I call my trusted friends to help reframe things for me.
I’ve already started to think about what kind of word I might need for 2027, and this reflection is reminding how much this focus can change my outcome. There are no guarantees that next year will be “better” or “easier” for any of us. In fact, it hardly seems likely with the way the world is going these days. However, I can choose to make my days better and easier for myself as often as possible. When I have hard days and situations that feel impossible, I can choose to look for the rainbows or I can make my own. My word helps frame my attitude and that is the one thing I have full control over (most of the time!). I’m grateful that EASE has helped me through 2026.
