Monday, January 2, 2017

Words To Live By

At the beginning of each New Year, we are either the type of person who wants to set goals or make resolutions in order to better ourselves or you believe all of that to be a bunch of hooey!  If it is the latter than maybe you do want to keep reading, if for nothing else except to get a little bit of a different perspective.  For those of you who believe this helps to motivate yourselves then that is a very honorable thought and involves a process of thinking where we want our lives to go in the future.  The one important thing that we tend (or maybe it is just me?) to forget or leave out totally is what exactly will we have to do personally in order to reach that goal.  It is not going to happen with a twitch of your nose or a snap of your fingers or even some magic wand.  It needs action from YOU. 

For example there are tons (no pun intended) of people who will have "lose weight" as their priority.  That is all fine and good.  I am with you!  What is the plan, Stan?  It is not going to happen magically, although wow, would that be ideal or what?  This is where your plan must come in to play, such as cut back on calories, go on a special program, exercise, be consistent, etc.  I will never forget watching an Oprah TV show one day years ago when she sat crying on her TV sofa, talking from her heart, as she always does, saying to the whole audience that if there were a pill that she could take to lose weight and keep it off, she would certainly be able to afford to buy it and would take it daily.  There is no magic pill.  It took me a while to grasp this concept.

Really, it does not matter what the specific goal is, there has to be a plan of action to see it through, right?  A few years ago, I had read about picking a word to live your New Year by.  One word! Powerful! You needed to train your brain with this one word to accomplish whatever you set out to do.  I will say that some words seem to me to work better than others, or maybe it would be better to say that some words need a little more use of your imagination to help you make something happen. It has to be a word that means something to you personally.   

This word needs to be front and center at all times.  It should be a word that you relate to in some way, shape or form.  Obviously, it should be able to help guide you in a positive manner to your outcome. Write it out, print it out and have it where you see it many times each day.  On your desk, in your car, in your lunch bag/briefcase; be creative of size, shape and materials you can use for your word.  I have seen someone stitch the letters of their word on a piece of fabric for their pocket.  Endless possibilities here.

Next step is to think of not one goal, two goals, or however many you have in your mind.  Just think of this word throughout your day as you make decisions.  Example:  You woke up a bit too late to actually make a breakfast yet you are aware that this will make a difference in how you will feel later in the day.  A word that I have chosen before is "inspiration."  So, thinking of this word and how I can use it to inspire my decision of what to do.  It makes me go in the direction that I should.  I could grab a yogurt and fruit to head out the door with a breakfast to go.  Or I could stop off at a fast food restaurant and pick up hash browns and sausage biscuits which have fat levels higher than I wish to have in one day, much less one meal.  OR, I could stop off at a fast food restaurant and make some of their better choices.  Most all of the restaurants post their nutritional information for the items on their menu.  Become familiar with them.  It is what you are putting into your body and quite frankly,  I do not wish to work out just to break even because I went way over the fat limit in my diet.  

When it comes to everyday challenges such as the laundry, decluttering, writing my blog or working on my novel, reading books or researching.............I have the word inspiration right there in front of me.  It puts much more of a positive mood in me to get busy and get it done, when at that particular time, I am just not 'feeling it.'  For some reason, seeing that word that I chose as my Word For the Year gives me a kickstart.  

It may work for you and then again, it may not.  You may be saying to yourself that I  am a few fries short of a Happy Meal.  And that is okay. All of us are different and we do not have to agree on all matters in order to be friends.  The important thing is that we are all willing to share what may help someone else if it helps you.  I do enjoy using my blog this way at times.  And the last thing I will say concerning this, "Try it, you may like it."  If not, nothing lost.  You may even find a totally different twist to bring in your New Year.   

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