Thought for the Week
Mid-February is when many people notice that their Resolutions have dissolved into Desolutions. Why? Searching through the rubble of good intentions, one giant footprint always emerges: When resolutions don’t stick, it’s because they’re not really resolutions. True resolutions are processes, experiments. The word re-solution means to go back (re) as many times as necessary, to rethink or rediscover what the problem is and keep modifying the solution until your experiment produces the results you’re looking for.
The word itself describes the process. Resolutionem (Latin) means “to reduce things to their simplest form.” Mathematicians liked the idea so much that, by the mid-1500s, they’d adopted the term solve (from the solu in resolution), meaning to keep reducing a problem to its basic components or steps until the answer is found.
So, if we want our resolutions to stick, we first need to take that little re at the start of the word seriously, to put on our mathematician hats (or slide rulers) and enjoy the process, embrace the adventure. We need to: 1) Go back as often as necessary, 2) rediscover or rethink the problem, and 3) each time reduce it to its basic components, the steps we can take to solve the problem (“Go to the gym after the pastry shoppe next door is closed!”), and 4) apply it. Enjoy the process, embrace the hunt, Good Will, and you will succeed!
Unless of course Godzilla eats the gym.
Asking God for wisdom on making a resolution stick would be beneficial as well, I think.
We really can’t do anything without him. You agree?
I do.
Great advice, Mitch, but I don’t make ‘um, so I don’t break ‘um. Then again, maybe I’d do better if I did make resolutions.
If re-solutions mean re-visiting problems, perhaps we should just do this non-stop? Loved the breakdown 🙂
Exactly, AJ.
Yes, I couldn’t work out at the gym because Godzilla got there first! 🙂 Really Mitch, this is a needed post. Thanks for the humor that helps the point to sink in.
My pleasure, Pete.
Rooting for Godzilla, or Notzilla, either one
;>)
I never thought of it like that, going back to the “re” on resolutions. I appreciate you sharing that, Mitch. Very helpful as I work on my resolution to eat healthier this year!
My pleasure, Rhonda.
Thank you for the insights, Mitch. You’ve brought Thomas Edison to mind, whose genius included the practice of determining what might work, and then working out what he’d determined. Edison wasn’t one to give up either. No doubt he enjoyed the process and embraced the hunt for solutions also, just as you’ve suggested here. I think he would have liked this post!
Indeed, Nancy! Edison came to mind when I was writing this.
How about that?!
I love how you gave us three actionable steps to “re-set”. And despite the parallels to math…I forgive you😉 because your suggestions are so spot-on perfect: Go back, rethink and simplify. Mmm..yep. Like tangling with a tricky math problem. Thanks, Mitch!
My pleasure, Vicki (and I’m terrible at math, btw).
Lucky for you…you have many other talents! 😉
Mitch, thank you for an excellent post!
By all means, Charles!
Great tips! I need to stay on this re-solution plan until I’m face-to-face with my Maker. What a fresh way to look at life. Thanks, Mitch.
My privilege, Manette.
May I know the time now Mitch there
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