With each changing calendar, I choose a word for the new year. This year my word is Euthymia.

What an ugly word! I almost didn’t choose it because it sounds so ugly to say (you thy-me uh). But sometimes it’s the ugly that ushers in beauty and I’m counting on this year, this word, bringing beautiful things (and also maybe some hard lessons) into my life.

I was looking for a word to described NOT being stressed, NOT being rushed or hurried, NOT being ‘busy’. I remember hearing a long time ago that you want to use the positive of an idea vs its negative counterpart because your brain will focus on whatever the primary word is. For instance, rather than telling yourself that you don’t want to be late, you tell yourself that you want to be on time. Or instead of saying you won’t eat that candy (start by not having candy at the house), say you want to focus on eating healthy. Therefore, unstressed, unrushed, unhurried and NOT busy were not viable options for my 2025 word. It was time to utilize the thesaurus and the internet… what word could describe what I was after for this new year?

Words that quickly came to mind… Calm, peace, serenity, relaxed. Those felt like a sense of being versus a proactive way of experiencing and tackling life. They are great. I want them all, but they just weren’t landing the way I wanted.

An internet searched turned up a bunch of ‘un’ words… unflustered, unworried, undemanding. Hmm.

Then a deeper dive plopped a new word into my lap: Euthymia.

Apparently it is only new to me. Ancient Greek philosopher, Democritus, defined euthymia as cheerfulness, living calmly and steadily without extreme emotional disturbance.

Eu- meaning ‘good’. Thymia- meaning ‘spiritedness’ or ‘mindset’. Synonymous for ‘happy’ and ‘generous’ (as in, a ‘generous mood’).

One online definition, says it means a state of tranquility and well-being often used in the context of bipolar or other mood disorders.

Bipolar?? Mood disorders?? Tell me more.

When used in the context of mental health, a state of euthymia is one where the individual is not experiencing depression or mania, but in a ‘stable’ period. It expresses itself as a lack of mood disturbances with a positive outlook. Response triggers accurately reflect situations at hand. Calmness, improved functioning and enhanced stress response are also indicators.

THAT’S IT! Sign me up for a Euthymic life for 2025, where I will respond calmly to situations, I will handle stress productively, I will be good spirited, stable and have a positive outlook. I like it!

Do you have a 2025 word?