Yes, it’s true. I do choose a favorite word usually about once a month. More like a mantra I guess. Most people have a favorite color, maybe a favorite dream car, or a favorite dessert, but how about a favorite word? Sounds odd at first, but I’ve found that choosing a favorite word can really change my thinking pattern.
A while back I realized that I’d fallen into a bit of a rut – my life had become pretty mundane. I had the usual problems that popped up that were honestly pretty annoying, but for the most part, life was pretty predictable and boring. I decided that my word for the month would be adventure. From then on, every inconvenience, each thing that didn’t go my way, all the problems that popped up were labeled an “adventure”.
As you can imagine, life took on a whole different meaning. Getting lost, running out of an ingredient for dinner, and not knowing how to get the gophers out of my yard – all became a fun adventure.
Our brain is pretty amazing. Once I started labeling things as fun adventures, my brain started starting actually looking for adventures. I noticed day to day life just became a whole lot more, well, adventurous.
After a while I felt it was time to try out a new word, so I changed to “possibility”. Rather than looking to the future and thinking of all the things that could go wrong (any other perfectionistic planners out there?!) I started imagining all the outrageous things that could go right.
So here I am again, ready to pick a new word. I’m leaning towards “yet” – small but powerful. My perfectionist self wants things to be perfect right now, but “yet” helps me to focus toward growth and patience. It also allows me to actually enjoy being here and now, rather than feeling that I’m not good enough.
Have you ever thought of having a word or mantra for a season of your life? I’d love to hear what you’ve chosen and how it has impacted your life.
