The Meaning of Words.

   I have always enjoyed breaking down words and discovering their meaning. Whether the word was formed intentionally that way or even just a play on words. I have joked for a long time in my corporate wellness talks that the first three letters in the word DIET tells you what I think of them. Now I know when the word diet was formed that is not what they were going for, but other words like Health when broken down have true meaning with the root of HEAL. Health is the ability to heal. 
   A few months ago a patient turned me on to the Amazon app Audible. It is an app that allows you to download books on audio, which is very convenient for car rides or while doing something else. I have been able to go through quite a few books with this app, and I have actually been rereading or listening to books I have already read. One is Stephen Covey's  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. So this is me preframing that these next thoughts are not original to me. Which to be honest most motivational speakers do not "come up" with original thoughts. That is because typically, if they are any good, they are just reiterating principles. Principles that were around before them and will be around after them. Most speakers will also credit the individual who led them to discover these principles, like Tony Robbins does Jim Rohn.
   But on my car ride today Covey was doing a play on words and was talking about Rationalization. This is actually a topic I have blogged about before. I have used it in the sense on why people are unmotivated to get healthy or change. It is how they sleep at night, how they live with themselves. Covey calls it to "Rational Lies". And this is right on. Rationalization is typically lies we tell ourselves to live with the present circumstances. And typically those rationalizations put someone or something else at fault. Meaning you're not in this situation because of your own doing, it's the genes I got from my dad, or if only my spouse was more supportive. Sound familiar? Covey then goes on to say that the only way you will improve is to stop rationalizing and take Responsibility. He calls it "ResponsABLE". Meaning only YOU are able to change your trajectory, and you are the one responsible for the current one. But the greatest thing is that you have the power, you just need to use it.