June 24 16

You know how at the end of December people do that one word thing? Instead of a laundry list of resolutions that they will likely forget about by mid-February, people choose a word to focus on for the 365 days ahead. Words like Move, Try, More, Focus, Simplify.

Well, I chose a word.

(Yes, I realize that it’s June — almost July — but I guess when you read what my word is, there’s something poetic about me not getting around to choosing a word until halfway through the year and being 100% okay with it.)

My word for 2016 is ADAPT.

Screen Shot 2016-06-24 at 1.59.38 PM

I struggle with this, this ability to adapt to new and unexpected conditions. But here’s the thing, I realize now that life does not move in a straight line, the one we ever-so-neatly lay out for ourselves. Nope, life zigzags (unlike Rickon Stark), and so many things become out of our control. And as a control freak, I’m not really hardwired to be okay with being out of control, but I have been working hard on this for the last few months, and I intend to spend the rest of 2016 working even harder on it.

I had planned to run in the morning, but a friend needed help instead. Zig!

I chose a photoshoot location but on the day of the shoot there was not a single bit of shade. Zag!

I lost my job when my company got sold. Zig! 

I wanted to have coffee with a friend but Emily needed a ride to school. Zag!

I made a cake and it got stuck to the bundt and half of it crumbled all over my countertops and kitchen floor. Zig!

Instead of becoming overwhelmed and frustrated by changes in my day, I’m learning to change ME to fit in with the changes. I’m learning to take initiative and be confident in my ability to take charge of me and my surroundings.

Let’s take the run for example. A few months ago, if this had happened, I would have removed my running skirt and said, “GAH NOW I GUESS I WON’T RUN TODAY.” and I’d probably be bitter  and annoyed about it. But instead, I kept my skirt on and went running later in the day, a shorter run, but I still did it. And I felt so good about it. About helping the friend, about still making sure I got a run in during my hectic day.

running-skirt

Also I totally upcycled the rest of that destroyed cake into cake pop-type delicacies and they were good so take that inner control freak.

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