One Word Says It All (2015)

Rethink

It’s taken me such a long time to come up with my “one word” for 2015. For me, choosing one area of focus tends to work much better than say going with the average resolutions.

Last year, I chose “Simplicity” which worked pretty well. All of 2014 was dedicated to making things a little easier both around the house and at work. I feel as if I learned a thing or two about my busy life. One, it’s not fun to be busy all the time and no one wins any Brownie points for the glorification of busy. Two, a lot of it I put upon myself. My drummed-up expectation of my working mom self, is what’s messed with me in previous years.  But hey, I never said I was perfect! That said, things are slightly better in that area.

This year, I’ve chosen “Rethink” which sounds like a non-word but it was handed to me during a church service. Seriously, I was sitting there pondering my word and Pastor Rusty George handed it to me on a silver platter during the series titled Fresh Start. If you care to actually listen to the service, you can find it here. He zeroes in on Rethink at 8:48. Technically, he uses the term “Rethink It” but you get the idea.

This word appeals to me on many levels. I am a quick thinker, and in turn, quick to react. This works great for me only half of the time. Often, I will make an immediate decision, and then the weight of that decision will stay with me for days. Not saying it’s always the wrong decision, but my confidence over the decision is sometimes not there after I’ve made it.

Or, something will fly out of my mouth only for me to regret it later. I have trigger mouth. I can control it at work, but not so much at home.

Sadly, this trigger way of thinking also affects my health. Yep, I have Lupus and there are times when I decide to skip my meds for awhile just to see if they are doing anything. Sometimes it takes months for me to feel lousy but I almost always do.

I seem to enjoy tempting fate.

So, although I am still focusing on simplifying my life, I am adding Rethink to the mix. I’ve technically been doing this since the beginning of the year without me noticing it and it’s added a calmness to my otherwise chaotic life. Taking an extra moment to respond or act can sometimes turn a negative into a positive. It comes down to perspective and sometimes to get a clear handle on it, you have to take the time to rethink it.

That’s my plan. To rethink everything before acting. This will apply to me saying “yes” all the time when volunteer opportunities come up. It will apply to my food choices. It will apply to decisions made at work. Basically, to everything. It sounds a little daunting and exhausting but really, it’s a brief moment of reflection and with January almost behind me, I can honestly say that it’s not tough to do.

Hopefully this little bit of mindfulness will help with my simplicity kick too.

20 thoughts on “One Word Says It All (2015)”

  1. I think that’s a great word that I could benefit from too. I have the annoying habit of doing first, thinking later. Though over the past few months, I have been consciously trying to slow down and it has helped. I just need to be conscious more often. Good luck with your word!

  2. I like the concept of rethinking…I think it’s going to be challenging for you but ultimately the perfect word for you! I love any thing that gives anyone more down time…time to do really just what you want to do.

  3. It sounds like “rethink” is a great choice for you, Ti. I over think everything and so imagine the word wouldn’t work for me. I can relate, however, to spending too much time doubting one’s decision–that lack of confidence you mentioned. One of my goals this year is to spend less time in my head–try not to over think things, including once I’ve made a decision–but especially in making that decision in the first place.

  4. Rethink, that’s a great one. Mine is simplify, similar to your’s last year. I’m looking forward to reminding myself in coming months that I need to stick to that!

    1. I didn’t have too much trouble simplifying so you should do well. This one though… will take a bit more work.

      ________________________________

  5. This is me, too. I definitely have a trigger way of thinking (not so much a trigger mouth, because I’m also one who can’t think of anything to say until long after the moment – typically followed by hours of analysis first). But I REACT (in terms of thought) so quickly! And I’m rather tired of doing it. If I can inject a little time between event and reaction, things always turn out better. I think “rethink” is a stellar word. I love it.

    1. I was telling another blogger how I had to put it in action yesterday not once, but twice. It was hard in these instances but I did it. Since being sick, I’ve lost 6lbs and I am trying to rethink all of my food choices too to continue the downward spiral. Why not take advantage of it?? So yea, I have my work cut out for me.

      ________________________________

    1. It’s true. I can’t think of a case where taking a moment to think first, would do any harm.

      Hey lady, thanks for commenting. I know you are on vacation and visiting lovely places right now. Enjoy!

      Ti

      ________________________________

    1. I knew there had to be at least one person waiting on pins and needles for me to come up with my word so my work for the day is done 😉 I SO wish it was.

      ________________________________

  6. I really, really like this word! I think it might be something that I need to consider for myself as well. I have never heard the phrase trigger mouth, but boy do I have it!!

    1. I made the phrase up but Trigger Mouth is exactly what I have. Not quite the same as “open mouth, insert foot” because most of the time, what I say is not inappropriate but just could have been said better.

      ________________________________

  7. Brilliant! So after reading your latest comment on my Sister Carrie post, I rethunk and stole Jill’s words for a better blurb on what it is about. But no. Not a romance. More like a survival story but not that it, either.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s