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.
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