Time to get pretzely.......

Everyday I play scrabble on line and I

do this because I read somewhere that the brain, 

much like other muscles, needs exercise.

To challenge myself and to increase my vocabulary,

I have decided that each game I play I must use at least 

one word I have never used before.

Yesterday one of my ''new'' words was pretzel.

However, it was not accepted.

This was strange to me as the ''computer expert'' had

 played it just last week.

I mean, pretzel is just the word for a type of bread

isn't it?

Mind you, I once had a friend say to me ''I'll have to turn

myself into a pretzel to get into your car''(At that time I was driving 

a low to the ground, two-door sporty little number.).

From that comment I concluded, well, more assumed perhaps,

 that pretzel can also mean to ''be very flexible''.

As the beginning of a new year is just a few hours away,

I have a feeling that in order to be able to keep up 

and cope with the many twists and turns that life may 

toss my way, I may have to turn myself into a ''pretzel''.

To be flexible is to be able to ''bend without breaking''

some say, and to me that sounds very much like 

becoming ''pretze-ly.

According to some: ''Psychological flexibility is the

ability to distance oneself from one's current mindset

and consider other possible mindsets.''

So, being very pretzely.....

Mindset is the established attitudes, opinions, views,

perspectives, etc. etc. we all have about...... well,

....... most things.

Although, commonly we don't experience our ''mindsets'',

to us ''it's just the way things/people/politics/etc. etc. are''.

A helpful way to ascertain whether we are ''set in our ways''

or flexible is to challenge or mindsets by asking ourselves

a simple question now and then: ''But what if.......?''

But what if there is another way, perspective, possibility, solution,

way to think about it, do it, view it, etc. etc.?

(Sometimes ''negative'' rather than ''positive'' what if's 

show up..... what if: I fail, make a mistake, trip, fall, etc. etc.

May I suggest that those what if's are best met with a stern

''what if I don't''....fall, slip, trip, fail, etc. etc.)

Us humans like routines, habits, and patterns.

It feels comfortable, easy and ''safe'' and any kind

of challenge to those (routines, habits, and patterns)

 often feels uncomfortable, complicated and uncertain.

However, even the smallest of changes can alter our perspectives.

For instance: ''what if today I try a short black instead

of a flat white coffee?'' and hey presto, suddenly we may discover

ourselves facing the world ''wearing roller skates rather than shoes''.

What if today I ..........insert here something that you usually

don't do.....................?

Some say that when we are psychologically flexible we

become better at making choices and decisions based on

our core values rather than our emotions.

So how does one become more psychologically flexible?

Some suggestions: developing an open mindset,

trying new things, challenging one's opinions/views,

seeking out new experiences, learning a new language,

doing things differently, being open to finding alternative solutions,

 etc. etc.

If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get

what we've always got.

''Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked,

while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with

the wind.''

(Bruce Lee)

''Flexible in the face of change, resilient in the

face of confusion. All of these attributes are choices

not talents, and all of them are available to you.''

(Seth Codin)

Time to get pretzely methinks.

And, oh, by the way, Happy New Year to

everyone.

about the image: graphite sketch on paper and

edited in Elements

Although the ballet dancer in the image is not

pretzely I reckon the position demands a lot of flexibility.