Word of the Week: Effort

“effort” is a vigorous or determined attempt

To no one’s surprise, I’m not too fond of this word.

I remember hearing it most during wrestling competitions! “Nice effort, now try again!”, my coaches would yell from the corner of the mat after I just exerted all of my energy on taking that last double-legged shot that was met with a head-stuff and a hip to the neck. I was expected to recover and try it again, but this time, make it a successful takedown!

Effort is an iffy word for me, because it implies that you have already been met without success.

Effort is generally only acknowledged when you’ve fallen short of that success.

Effort is pretty much how I feel that I’ve lived my life.

Although I’ve done a ton and accomplished so much, this California lifestyle gets to me more often lately than it ever has! The cost of living here, the type of people here, the crime here, the monotony here, the everything here at this point! It’s getting to me. And a big reason why is strongly related to the effort that I’ve already put into creating a life here.

We’ve all made plenty of vigorous and determined attempts at creating good lives for ourselves — and that looks different for different people. We’ve all done whatever our versions of “hard work” are to reach some arbitrary level of success that’ll either come or pass us by, and, above all else we’ve all put in effort of some sort at something that we truly wanted.

As someone who is actively trying to significantly raise the bar on her own life, effort and energy is all that I know these days. And while it feels like a million little fails, it’s the effort that constantly brings me closer to all that I want, deserve and desire: financially, socially, and intimately.

So, while the finish-line is not always in sight, it’s the effort that keeps us in the race and consistently moves us closer to it!

Best,
Bree 💝