Greetings and welcome to 2022! It’s a pleasure to connect in the New Year.

If you’ve been a Wow reader for a while, you know that each year I pick a theme.

What’s this year’s?

Raise your allowance.

“Seriously?” you’re likely thinking, “I haven’t received an allowance in some time, much less had it raised.”

Ah, that is sad.

Why? Because I recently learned that the root of the word “allow” is “allouer” which translates to, “to commend, approve of, give praise to.”

(Which, if you want to get all wordsmithy, makes sense when you think of the word, “Hallelujah/Alleluia.”)

For the purpose of understanding this year’s theme, however, let’s focus on “giving praise to.”

Why?

Because—and I’m speaking for myself but see if this resonates with you—I have always held the word “allow” in a very miserly/grudging/tight space in my mind….

“OK, I’ll allow it” i.e. I will make a tiny bit of room for it.

“But,” I’ve been thinking, “What would it be like if I switched to the original definition?”

If I decided—regardless of context or circumstance—to meet situations where I wish to scream, or flee, or attack, or curl up in a ball, by finding something to praise.

If I began saying to myself, “Wow, this is *&^%!…but is it possible there’s something good here—something to be praised? In any case, I’m doing the best I can—and that’s something I can praise.”

I know this is what you would say to a friend in need.

I think it’s the kind of praise you need to begin to allow yourself.

And 2022 is the year to begin.

For purposes of clarity, this is not about responding to difficult situations with a blanket, “It’s all good” because guess what? Sometimes it’s not. For more on that take a look at, “Sometimes It’s Not “All Good””.