I was telling Mhairi the other day that I almost get offended every time I come across one of the words in my jar. Intrigued, she asked about it.

The word “strong”.

My ten year younger self probably thought the word would instill me with power, forward movement and stamina. Maybe it did, because the past decade has been quite a ride, personally and professionally. But I have also learned that I don’t have to be strong and what I instead need is softness. To not push through and to trust my intuition. This is why I feel such resentment every time I see the word.

But as I talked to Mhairi I started to see a vision of a tree. An oak tree that sways in the wind because of its sturdy roots.

This had me thinking, what does “strong” actually mean?

In the Merriam-Webster dictionary there are more meanings to it than I had anticipated. Some are exactly the reason why I reject the word: great physical power, effective or efficient, forceful. But just like my vision of the tree there were meanings of having great resources.

But still I don’t like it. However I am not ready to throw the word out. I put it there for my future self to see, so I’m thinking there might come I time later on when I absolutely need it.

This made me ask myself, are there other words or ideas I now reject. Do they still hold a place in my jar/life or do I have to get rid of them? Spending the last weeks of the year contemplating this seems like the perfect thing to do. Are there themes, values or ideas that you hold on to but no longer ring true?