So I saw on Facebook a post someone shared from some life coach I’ve never heard of. She explored the concept of picking a word for the year. A word that would be the focus, the goal, the summation of what you work for throughout the year.

I started thinking about what word I would choose. Taking into consideration the horrible year that just ended, there were several words that sounded like a good place to start.

• Balance – everyone needs balance, right?
• Passion – ah passion, the fire that fuels us
• Gratitude – I have been blessed with so much in my life
• Simplify – life is so much easier without all the clutter, inside and out
• Cultivate – grow the good, inside and in the community
• Inspire – who doesn’t want to be an inspiration
• Strength – heaven knows I need strength
• Focus – a little focus would definitely help with the mental clutter
• Breathe – super important one here, breathing
• Redeem – after this past year, redemption seems like a long shot
• Manifest – make it happen, yes.

I’ve actually been pondering this for several days. Every time I think I have decided on one, another pops into my head holding just as much promise.

Then yesterday I sat in front of the tattoo shop, debating whether I should go in, whether I should cash in my birthday present from my amazing wife.

So many questions. Do I want to get something so permanent? Am I sure I want this image? Am I sure I want it here? Am I really ready for this?

So I sent a text to my friend, letting her know my hesitation. She replied that’s why she doesn’t have any tattoos. Because she can’t commit.

And that is when it hit me.

Commit.

That’s my word.

That’s my focus. That’s my year’s goal. Commit.

Commit to decisions I make. Commit to trusting those decisions. Commit to making a good life with my wife. Commit to making a difference, in my life and in others’.

When I went into the tattoo place and was talking to the artist, Audra*, and she asked where I wanted the tattoo. I said I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure if I wanted it on my arm or on my leg in such a wishy-washy way that it seemed that I was asking her to decide. Luckily, she didn’t. Luckily, she said that it wasn’t up to her and to let her know when I had decided. This was lucky for me because I might actually have let her decide. Let a stranger decide where I was going to permanently put something on my body.

I realized that is what I was doing. So I told her I was going to go with my original plan and that’s what we did. I committed. And I was happy.

Audra told me that she loved my design and wanted to know if I had been a dancer. I told her that I had taken ballet for many years and it took us that long to realize just how clumsy and lacking grace I am.  She could relate.

She said that the shop owner asked what she was doing and that she said, “A tiny dancer.” And he replied, “Tony Danza?”

She also told me that my tattoo was the first one she had done in 2021. I said I was honored that my Tony Danza started her year.

It started mine too. My year to commit.

*Audra Blalock at Fade to Black Tattoos in Fort Worth. Highly recommended!