Chosen
[My word for 2026]

The word came quietly.
Not during a ceremony.
Not in a moment of triumph.
Not after I earned it.
It arrived in stillness
in that rare pause where striving loosened its grip
and my thought quieted long enough…stillness
Chosen.
Not chosen by something outside of me.
Not chosen because I did enough, healed enough, proved enough.
Chosen as recognition.
As remembering.
For so long, I believed being chosen meant being picked
approved, validated, selected by someone or something else.
A role. A title. A relationship. A moment of arrival.
But that version of chosen is fragile.
It depends on comparison.
It disappears the moment attention shifts elsewhere.
This word is different.
Chosen is what remains when comparison falls away.
When the nervous system softens.
When the body exhales and says, Oh… here I am.
It’s not about being special.
It’s about being
here.
Chosen is not louder.
Not higher.
Not above.
It is quieter.
Rooted.
Steady.
It’s what’s left when I stop asking, Am I enough?
and start living as though the question has already been answered.
This year, Chosen is an invitation to live from the inside out.
To choose presence over performance.
Truth over striving.
Listening over forcing.
To trust that what is meant for me does not need to be chased.
That belonging doesn’t require negotiation.
That love doesn’t need to be earned.
Chosen is how I want to show up…as a woman, a nurse, a coach, a mother, a partner, me.
Not trying to become someone else.
Not reaching for a future version.
But honoring who I already am
when nothing false is left to hold.
This is not the year of becoming.
It’s the year of remembering.
Chosen.
🤍
-Elizabeth









