One Little Word

I decided to participate in the “One Little Word” campaign created by Ali Edwards. It is a challenge to pick a word you would like to incorporate into your daily life. It can be absolutely any word. I chose the word ‘relax’.

According to Google, the definition of ‘relax’ is:

1. make or become less tense or anxious
2. rest or engage in an enjoyable activity so as to become less tired or anxious

I am naturally a very anxious person. I overthink everything. Even physically I am very tense. Here’s an example…

Recently I got my first real massage. I was, of course, anxious and excited to go to the appointment. So, when I got there and got situated on the massage table and the massage began, the masseuse had to tell me multiple times to relax. She commented on how tense I was, and it really got me thinking that I have got to find a way to relax.

I have tried just about everything: meditation, breathing exercises, medication, yoga… it helps for a minute, but the anxious feelings, tenseness, and worry always come back. I’ve always been a worrier, even when I was a child. I used to totally stress about everything as a child, and it has carried over into my adult life. This is not my favorite characteristic of myself.

I think sometimes I just need a distraction; a way to get my mind off whatever is bothering me. I’ve taken up reading and that helps a lot of the time, but sometimes I just get overly anxious and agitated at the smallest things. I have to learn to overlook the small, unimportant negative things in my life and focus on the positive.

My goal for myself is to find ways to incorporate relaxation into my everyday life. I got a gym membership this week, so I’m hoping that will help. Thus far it just appears to be killing me, but only time will tell. Hopefully it will help get my mind off of stressful situations that come up in my life.

I thought the “One Little Word” campaign was neat. There are plenty of things I need to work on, but I think if I get the relaxation under control, other good things will follow (less stress, more happiness, etc.). I have to work on taking a deep breath and just taking things as they come instead of worrying about the future and stressing about what could happen.

This is going to be a real challenge for me, but I am going to try to relax.

What will your one little word be? How are you going to incorporate it into your life?
April