I’ve been choosing one word to guide my monthly intention for five months now. And for all five of those months, I’ve intentionally chosen a word that I thought would bring a new level of contentment to my life. But this month is different.

This month, my word chose me instead.

And while I cannot say my new word is exactly what I would have chosen for myself, I can say it is just what I need. And in fact, it will literally improve the quality of my life. 
It sounds dramatic, I know. But this past month has been a challenging one and I’m navigating a new normal with what appears to be a new autoimmune disease. Life-threatening? No. Life altering? Yes.

So this month, my word found its way to me in an attempt to bring control to what feels like an uncontrollable situation. And here it is: anti-inflammatory.

Not very romantic, is it?!

But all signs point to this word as being the one little thing that could heal and even reverse auto-immune disease. And while I have a long wait ahead of me to figure out exactly what I might be dealing with, this is something I can do for myself right now to make myself feel better.

So what might this one word look like this month?

  • It might look like a clean, healthy diet free of gluten, grain, refined foods and sugar.
  • It might look like long, slower walks and restorative yoga rather than the kinds of exercise I tend to push myself through.
  • It might look like throwing out the chemicals hidden in my household objects and replacing them with clean, pure alternatives instead.
  • It might mean getting more sleep (this is a tough one for me!) and adding more wind-down routines to my evenings.
  • It might look like even more notebooking and journaling to beat stress, plan ahead and yes, even boost my immune system.

I like to keep a positive attitude, but this has been hard. My hands are taking the hardest hit right now, making it difficult to do what I love the most: write in digital spaces to coach coaches and teachers and share my love of literacy with the world through blogging. But I’m working on that and finding some pretty innovative tools to keep my hands quiet, but my voice typing. =) I got this.

I believe that everything happens for a reason. I also believe in karma, signs and everything in between. So when this video landed in my Inbox (again!), I knew it was meant to be. If you haven’t watched Phil Hansen’s Embrace the Shake, please do. It was just what I needed when I needed it and maybe, it will be for you, too:

So, what’s your one word for the month of June? And how will you hold it close all month long? Share your comments below, tag @AffinitoLit on social media and join me in the #OneLittleThing movement!