Every Word Matters

The Key to an Intentional Life

Caitlin Crosby

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9780310454694
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Success

Where we are in life doesn't matter nearly as much as how we respond to where we are in life. Actress, musician, and entrepreneur Caitlin Crosby calls us to live well in our current season so that who we are can also inspire others to be their true selves.

In Every Word Matters, Caitlin Crosby, founder of The Giving Keys, offers key words--such as believe, create, faith, and hope--that will help you wholeheartedly embrace your present season, no matter how messy it is. Each key word in this inspiring book includes:

• Ideas for how to incorporate the word into everyday life
• Exercises for focusing on the word
• Questions to guide you in prayer and journaling
• Quotes, lists, sidebars, and reflection questions

We are called to inspire and serve others. Every word matters not just to you but to others in your life, as your own dreams, goals, and values pour out into the lives around you. Often the ability to help others starts with embracing the season of life we're in. But it can be challenging to know how to receive the gifts of our experiences, especially when life just isn't going as we'd planned.

How will your key word help you inspire others to live out their dreams? Discover the beauty of intentional living in Every Word Matters.

SEVEN
inspire

What you say and do and share has the power to inspire, impact, and heal others’ hearts. When you choose inspire as your word, you are committing to get inspired and then to share your unique story and your thoughts to inspire others. Meditating on this word is about reminding yourself that you have love and wisdom to share with the people in your life, both the ones you see every day and the ones you might connect with via social media or other outlets all over the world. Think about how you feel when you connect with someone’s story and it leaves a tangible mark on your life. What if you could do the same for someone else? There is someone out there who needs to hear what you have to say, so let’s get inspired and start sharing!

If you don’t feel terribly inspired, then it can feel daunting to just up and go find inspiration. Don’t worry; choosing inspire as your word doesn’t mean you have to be 100 percent inspired all the time. There will be days when you are bursting with ideas and energy, and days when the only thing you feel inspired to do is pour yourself another cup of coffee. But even on your most blah days, there are things you can do to feel more motivated about this quest. The trick is to get into the habit of prioritizing these practices in your day-to-day routine so you spend more time inspired than not.

Think about when you feel the most inspired. What are you doing? Where are you? How do you feel? I’m often inspired at night, when I’m alone and can really connect with my thoughts. That’s when I used to write my favorite gut-wrenching songs and draw design sketches. But I’m always most inspired when dealing with some sort of hardship. When I, someone I know, or the world in general is facing something traumatic or difficult, it motivates me to come up with solutions. I’m inspired when I’m connecting to a need I can see and feel. It motivates me to pursue my purpose with abandon. For you, it may be getting up early each morning to watch the sunrise and journal or read a book that stimulates your imagination. Or it might be taking a full day each weekend to go for long walks or connect with friends who really motivate you to dream bigger. Try a few different things and see which one really gets your brain and heart going.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

— MAYA ANGELOU

WHO ARE YOU INSPIRING?

We all have so much untapped potential just lying dormant, waiting to make a lasting impact on those around us. We choose each day whether we want to inspire and lift one another up, or whether we want to focus only on ourselves or waste our energy cutting one another down. Think about this as you find yourself scrolling through social media—do the accounts you follow make you feel horrible about yourself and your life, or do they fill you with joy and excitement? Are you getting ideas from what you see, or are you scrolling mindlessly to numb out? Have you gotten yourself into an online fight in the comments section? It’s happened to the best of us. Why do we find ourselves in this place from time to time?

WAYS TO FUEL INSPIRATION

Spend time in nature. Go for a walk or a challenging hike, have a picnic in the park, or even dine al fresco in your own backyard for a few nights. Let the beauty of the natural world sink in.

Try something new. Always wanted to take a ballet class, but were sure you had two left feet? Today’s the day! Learning a new skill will help shake up your routine. And you never know—all those pirouettes may shake loose a great new idea in your brain too!

Lean into the arts. Head to a local museum for the day, get tickets to the symphony, go see a play, or visit a local pottery studio to get your hands dirty. Art doesn’t happen without inspiration, so let someone else’s work inspire yours.

Be of service. Volunteer with an organization to actively help others in your community. Helping others is like an energy drink for the soul. Seeing good be done and hearing the stories of people I’m helping always gets me in an inspired mood.

Refresh your space. Clean out your clutter, rearrange your furniture, hang up new pictures, pick up a few plants, or even paint a room a new color. We spend a lot of time in our homes. If yours isn’t an inspiring place to be, it’s time to change that. Even if you don’t have the budget to make big changes, at the very least create a space in your home for you to do the inspired work you are trying to do.

Rest. If you are feeling utterly depleted, it’s time to up your sleeping game. Go to bed early for a few nights, and try to sleep for at least eight hours. So few of us actually get the quality rest we need, so it’s no wonder if you are feeling decidedly uninspired. Make rest a priority, and you’ll be shocked at what it can do for your ability to think clearly.

Read a good book. Think about which books you’ve read that have really captured your imagination or made you feel deeply. Reread those! Or take yourself to your local bookstore or library (to actually smell the depth of the history in the pages and give your eyes a break from reading on tech devices), and ask for new recommendations that are similar to old favorites. Make sure to share what felt so inspiring to you with the salesclerk or librarian so they can help you find books that will really work for you.

We’ve fallen into the trap of pride, rage, judgmental hatred, and comparison. Instead of cheering on one another (or kindly and respectfully sharing our opposing opinion), we find ourselves comparing our own unique, wonderfully imperfect, wild, and, yes, messy lives with the top-level, different perspectives and perfectly polished highlight reels that someone else is showing the world. Deep down in our hearts, we know those snapshots aren’t the whole story. We know that between the photos posted of luxurious, tropical vacations and adorable kids in matching outfits, there are millions of moments we don’t see—burned dinners, failed health and businesses, tantrums, anxiety, blowout fights, loneliness, antidepressants, and scrubbing toilets. Everyone’s life is messy and emotional and a roller-coaster of highs and lows. That’s what it is to be human. None of us is perfect. So how do we stop comparing and start connecting? That’s where inspire comes in.

The opposite of comparison isn’t just not to compare; it’s to inspire. Comparison is all about looking for similarities and differences and then making judgments based on those. When you inspire, you aren’t doling out judgment; you’re sharing celebration. You look closer and really see everyone else, and then celebrate what about them inspires you. And, in turn, you are sharing your most authentic self instead of hiding behind your own facade—which will then inspire others.

No one is perfect. In fact, I think we are all drawn to people who own their imperfections and don’t try to smile through the struggle to hide them. We like them because they...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Ebook Instructions
• Contents
• Introduction
• One. Believe
• Two. Love
• Three. Dream
• Four. Faith
• Five. Fearless
• Six. Hope
• Seven. Inspire
• Eight. Create
• Nine. Brave
• Ten. Strength
• Eleven. Pay It Forward
• Twelve. The Next Word