Word of the Year, 2015 Edition

I've decided to jump on the "word of the year" bandwagon.  I love the idea of having a single word help guide you through the year, something to focus on when you need inspiration or a simple reminder.  I had the perfect word jump out at me in December while I was pondering the new year ahead.

gray (grā) n. a shade between, or mixture of, black and white

As much as I'd like life to be black and white, it's not.  Very few things in life are that simple and clear-cut and while I understand this fact, I have a hard time accepting it.  My mind is set on "all or nothing" and has been for as long as I can remember.  I've definitely become more flexible over the years but I still stress myself out on a near daily basis by not being able to meet myself somewhere in the middle, somewhere in that "something" range.  Gray is the color of compromise - it sits between the extremes of black and white, after all - and that is exactly what I need to start doing, compromising with myself.  I need to teach myself that it's okay to live in the mixtures of black and white where everyone else is living, where all the best things in life are waiting.  I need to start living in the gray spectrum because if I don't, I'm going to miss out on being the happiest and healthiest version of myself that I know can be.

So, here's to learning to live in the grays in 2015.  It's going to be hard but I suspect it will be a lot prettier of a place.