Word for Wednesday: Resolution
Happy New Year!
We hope you’ve all had a fantastic winter holiday and have had chance to rest and can head into 2014 with renewed energy and motivation.
It’s been an exciting 2013 for us here at Spellzone. With the arrival of the new-look site and lots of new features for you to check out, there’s plenty of reason to be getting excited about what the New Year might have in store.
Since New Year’s has fallen on a Wednesday this year I thought I’d take the chance to blog about what will probably be a very widely used word today: Resolution.
The word’s oldest ancestor seems to be the Latin 'resoluti', which has a delightful definition, appropriate to many of our promises to better ourselves in the New Year. Resolution is ‘the process of unbinding or untying’, a release. The Online Etymology Dictionary defines resolution as a ‘process of reducing things into simpler forms’.
Perhaps this year you might like to make a ‘New Year’s Resolution’ and try to simplify your workload. Working towards increased organization or the removal of unnecessary stress in our life is a good concept to approach the New Year with. I know I’ll be trying harder to keep on top of things this year, simplify everything into manageable ‘chunks’ and try not to overload.
Normally our resolutions are of a pious nature and quite unlikely to be kept to, but an overall change in outlook and attitude can be so much more beneficial whilst also targeting those typical and rather predictable (eat less chocolate, exercise more…) goals as well.
The other meaning of resolution, whereby something is brought to a close or ‘solved’ is a nice idea too. With the advantage of hindsight we can look back at what is ideally a ‘resolved’ year and see how we can improve and where start in the New Year as to not repeat ourselves.
I’m sure I’m not alone in seeing the New Year as a chance to develop on all of those before it. Psychologically, it feels almost like ‘having another shot’ at it; what can I do better?
All being said, if your resolution is to brush up on your spelling, you’re in the right place.
Happy 2014!
Hugh MacDermott
01 Jan 2014
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