What's Your Word?

For the past week or so I've been reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. (Yes, I realize it's been made into a major motion picture, but I've chosen to read it rather than see it. Generally, I believe the book is always better! But I digress.) While enjoying the book, I came across a section of the book where one character, Luca, challenges the main character, Liz, to sum herself up in one word. The challenger explains to the befuddled Liz that Rome's word is SEX; the Vatican's word is POWER; and Naples' word is FIGHT. In other words, these words describe the personality of the city or at least what a majority of people would think about the city. (Clearly this is during the Italy portion of the book, but it's nothing near a spoiler!) Naturally, our protagonist, Liz, struggles to figure out her word. Interestingly, so do I.

Throughout the years, I've been described in so many ways that it's hard to come up with one word that the majority of my associates (friends and family) could use to describe me. During my childhood, I'd venture to say that my word would have been PRECOCIOUS. I was often told that I'd "been here before" or was "wise beyond my years." During my teens, my word was CONFIDENCE (in every sense of the word). During college, the word became ACHIEVE due to my single-minded focus of becoming a doctor. After college, I believe the word that best described me was IRONY, since life was shaping up to be much different than I'd imagined it.

After much deliberation, I've decided that at this moment my word is MERCURIAL. Look it up. It's a perfect fit, and perhaps it always has been. It's not negative or positive, it just is...me! I think I'll have some t-shirts printed up, perhaps change my twitter name (HA!). On second thought, maybe not because (in keeping with my mercurial nature) tomorrow my word may be different!

And now, as I am consciously choosing economy over verbosity, I ask: What's your word?