Posted on 2015-02-01 00:00:00 +0000

Do you believe that one word can change your life? It feels like a heretical claim to make. We are all faced with daily challenges and difficulties from our past. At times, the nature of these problems can feel inescapable and the way we think about the issues determines our relationship with them. Instead of finding words that can empower our understanding, our reflexive response is to use language that creates absolutes about a situation. We often say that we “always” do something or that a desired goal will “never” happen.

To state that a behaviour will “always” be enacted or that a future goal will “never” happen is to deny the possibility that things can change. We cannot change the past – that’s a fundamental truth. However, the past does not equal the future. We do not know exactly what tomorrow will bring. Our lives can radically shift at any time in ways that we cannot imagine, both for the good and the bad.

What if there was one word you could sprinkle into your thoughts that could change your relationship with what is truly possible? Would you start using it?

I have found that incorporating the word “yet” into my vocabulary has allowed me to reframe my understanding of what I can accomplish. I can take a statement such as “I have never consistently exercised” – a damning, self-censuring thought – and change its meaning by thinking “I haven’t YET consistently exercised.” I’ve given myself the opportunity to create a new reality. Just because something hasn’t happened in the past doesn’t mean that it won’t in the future. As Albert Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” If, in the past, we have told ourselves that we can’t do something, we’ve likely believed it. That thinking is a self-fulfilling prophesy. Only by shifting our thoughts can we overcome obstacles that may have previously existed.

By using the word “yet” I also impose a humility on my understanding of life. When I speak in absolute terms, I give myself more credit for what happens to me than is appropriate. While my experience of any given day hinges on how I choose to react to the events, I am not in control of all these events. I cannot know what will happen in a week, a month, a year. I can state, today, that I am not yet in a relationship and that’s true. I do not know when I will meet someone but I do know if I state that I’ll “never” meet someone I’ll limit the possibilities and will be far less likely to make choices that will put me in a position to meet someone.

Give it a try. By using the word “yet” you may discover that the best is yet to come.