#Lucha

Since our kids were young, at the start of every new year we sit together and celebrate personal victories and/or lessons learned from the past year, as well as set intentions and goals for the next. Part of that tradition is to select a “word for the year” that will serve as somewhat a theme for the next season of life. One year, I jokingly told the family my word for the year was lottery, and I planned on winning big. Later that year we were searching for a home to buy and found a really cool place that we could afford, had room for our daughter’s horse, and happened to be on Casino Rd. We had a good laugh when we were moving in and realized the correlation of my word. I don’t know how you feel about God, but I think he sure has a great sense of humor sometimes. This year, I chose the word “Lucha”. I have a shirt that says #Lucha, which is a Spanish word that means to fight or struggle, and I think in this world that desperately needs love, we also need to remember to fight.

I’m somewhat of a pacifist. I hate conflict and will usually avoid it like the Rona. This year has been interesting, as I’ve found myself engaged in conversations that can sometimes be controversial to say the least. I don’t like it, and yet I believe it’s good. It’s good because it challenges both parties to love beyond our comfortability. If I only love those I agree with, what good is that really doing but just causing deep divisions between people who have different views or beliefs than me. It’s so important to remember, and this is a constant struggle, that the fight is not against the person, but the fight is for them. I have to be willing to engage in the difficult things, to fight to really know and understand their view, and to show them love and respect whether I agree or not. That, my friends, is where the real struggle lies. Anyone can fight with someone they don’t like or they disagree with. The real strength is in the struggle, to fight through temptation to hate, and choose to show compassion, understanding, grace, forgiveness, and love instead.

When we look for ways to fight for people rather than against them, I think we’ll discover that loving and fighting are equally vital if we want to have have authentic relationships with other humans. As I’ve said before, I certainly don’t write these things because I’ve mastered this at all. Not by a long shot! I struggle with this on a daily basis. Life is hard and sometimes my humanity can be a real beast to tame. I’m impatient, judgmental, and quite honestly the exact opposite of what I desire to be. But that’s ok. That’s all part of the human experience. We fail and we learn. We hurt and we forgive. We fall and we get back up. We love and we fight. So be a lover and a fighter. #Lucha