#OneWord365

Join Find Your Tribe Share Blog FAQS
string(84) "https://oneword365.com/wp-content/uploads/coffee-shop-espresso-wood-table-iphone.jpg"
BLOG

Action or Acceptance?

| written by Alece Ronzino | 2 comments

A guest post from Hope ::

______________

Even in her text I can hear her desperation. Her husband is deeply depressed again. He finally admitted his desire to leave the marriage. He’s been thinking about it seriously for two years but hasn’t found the strength to follow through. With depleted emotions they both plod through their moments trying to make it to the next one. Like a child wearing arm floats they’ve been flailing in shallow waters until they unwittingly drifted towards the deep end. Neither have the strength to pull the other up so in an effort to do it on their own, each one is worn out. She is finally reaching out, finding herself in danger, she sends a message with a plea of sorts. An admission that she can’t do this on her own.

As I carefully choose my questions for her, I think of the word I have chosen for this year, galvanize.

In a figurative sense, galvanize means to excite or stimulate (as if by electricity) to action. It’s synonymous with inspire and it speaks directly to the heart. It is the energy that leads to change through inspiration rather than being motivated by the externals toward transformation.

The technical term refers to securing zinc to steel through electrical charges. The purpose of galvanization is to protect the metal from rust or becoming oxidized. There are two different methods of galvanizing, hot dipping and shock with electrical current.

Through my animated chatter to my husband (and former contractor), he stopped me at my assumption that the process made objects stronger. He explained that galvanized nails were more easily bent than the others. Something in the process weakened them and although they don’t easily rust, they aren’t sturdier. Only items that have been hot-dipped possess extra strength but it comes from the layer of protection, not by itself.

This word that seems to have chosen me is going to be more of a challenge than I initially realized. The type of discipline to practice it will come from inside myself rather than from how I behave. To be open, I will need to be vulnerable to change in order to tap into the strength from being immersed in God‘s protection and strength. I’m actually excited about learning to be still, to be quiet and mindful.

As my friend sat on the purple couch in front of the fireplace, she already had more peace than the initial message conveyed. I prayed as she spoke that my words would inspire and not instruct. That she and her husband could find hope and a new excitement or electricity in their lives which in turn would heal their marriage.

She didn’t need my words this time, just prayerful consideration. The quiet moment of listening over a fresh cup of coffee were enough to encourage us both. The discipline to say nothing when wise words aren’t easily found was my act of galvanization for today.

What word are you choosing for 2013? Is it a word that requires your action or your acceptance? I have a feeling that galvanize will require both.

 ______________

Hope is in the middle of her Year of Jubilee, celebrating life while fighting for the underdog, under privileged and under served. She is madly in love with her pastor husband affectionately known in her writings as The Coffee Guy. Her full life includes one married daughter and son in law (Mr. and Mrs. Ray of Sunshyne). Her newly minted teenager, The Princess, joined the family through adoption and is taking the family on a journey into the world of special needs on a road called Emanuel Syndrome. You can find her writings as she unearths life’s lessons on her blog, Finding Hope.

_____________

If you’d like to guest post for the One Word 365 blog, contact us and let us know. Be sure to include the general idea of what you’d like to share in your post.

After pioneering a nonprofit in South Africa for 13 years, Alece Ronzino now lives in Nashville, TN. She’s a vacation rental management firm owner, freelance copywriter/editor, and the founder of One Word 365. More importantly, she dances in the car, talks with her hands, and makes a mean guacamole. Follow Alece on Instagram and Twitter, and visit her blog, Grit and Glory.