Strength: Why It's My Word for 2023

Karen Estep, who normally shies away from resolutions, words for the new year, or fad diets, explains why this year she needed some strength.

I want to think I am a strong person—but the truth is, I’m not. I’m pretty weak in several areas. I am also slightly Type A (my husband would disagree and say I’m mostly Type A) and I like being in control. However, being a weak Type A person typically means I'm relying on myself too much and not as much on God.

I shy away from making New Year’s resolutions because I’ll follow them for a few days and then go back to what I was doing, which frustrates me so I get into this really negative spiral. I stay away from fad diets (though my husband and I do enjoy it when we eat mostly Paleo) because I like ice cream. I don’t typically choose a word for my year either.

This year I was incredibly called to find a word for 2023. The word that I mulled over for a long time was the word STRENGTH. I have a lot of personal, health, fitness, and financial goals for 2023 and I’m going to need a lot of strength to get through even some of them.

In the fitness and health goals I am embracing some new ideas. I have recently joined a spin studio that is run by a very dear friend. I have taken a few of her classes before and leave feeling not only pushed physically but also spiritually. Anna challenges us to meet ourselves physically and then give “just a kiss to the right” (this is how you add resistance on the spin bike). Her classes are a way to relieve stress and be stronger both mentally and physically. I hope to become stronger in more ways than one.

Financially, my husband and I have some pretty big goals. We are both educators and therefore not making tons of money. My shopping desires don’t help with this situation either. I like new clothes, new jewelry, and just new things in general! My love language is gift giving and gift receiving, so I like to give myself a lot of gifts. However, I realized in November that I can either complain that we don’t have money to travel and money to do fun extras, or I can help solve the problem by not buying so much stuff!

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I have been inspired every year by a former boss who celebrates “No Spend January” with her husband. They make a pact not to buy any extras for the entire month of January: just the necessities. One year they even looked up how much money two adults would be given on government assistance and tried their hardest to live on just that for January. That meant if a broom broke, she duct-taped it together; if their grocery budget was tight, she ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. No going out for dinner or dates either: they left all the fun “extras” behind. Any money they saved would be donated at the end of the month.

I have been pretty successful doing this in the past, although I chose to do “No Spend February” as it is the shortest month of the year. This year I am hoping to have the strength to avoid spending on extras for myself for the months of January, February, and March. This will be a big deal for me to accomplish because shopping is a coping mechanism for me. I shop when I’m happy, when I’m anxious, when I’m sad, or when I’m bored. I did a mini version of this for all of December, but did not beat myself up if I buy “little” things during that month. My husband and I have tried budgeting spending money for me, but I always go over budget. I need to just dig down deep, be strong, and find other ways to cope.

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Another area that I am praying for some strength in is my social media use. It is really unruly and I will say, “I don’t have time” but I really do. I spend way too much time looking at other people’s lives. This can mean I compare myself a lot to other people and think that I’m “not” or I “don’t have” a lot. I often will compare whatever chapter of life I am in to other people’s chapters, and that is not good for me mentally. I have tried fasting from social media before as well and I am never very successful. I always put off reading books or digging deeper into things I’m interested in because I’m scrolling. I do pray nightly that God can help me navigate this struggle. I know I am not the only mom with this struggle, either.

Click to tweet:
Our strength comes from Christ, and if we truly just put our nose to the figurative grindstone we can accomplish so much. #catholicmom

There are so many ways to see and use strength. Our strength comes from Christ, and if we truly just put our nose to the figurative grindstone we can accomplish so much. Maybe I am not as weak as I think, because it takes a lot of strength to know our shortcomings and to know who to rely on for helping us find the strength that we already possess.

Strength is my word for 2023. What will be yours?

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