The 2021 winner of this fierce contest , as readers of this blog will anticipate, was resilience. The growing frequency of Its use suggested it meets a need many people are experiencing. Maybe it’s helping them get through these difficult times.
What’s your nominee for 2022?
The first nomination received for this year is decatastrophization. Yup. all seven syllables of it. (I prefer Anglo Saxon monosyllables, even if they sound more vulgar than their classicizing equivalent. But I know of no synonym for this tern, and, besides, there’s no time to waste. ) You’ve been fired from your job; your spouse has left you; you’ve gone bankrupt; you’ve made a typographical error. It’s a catastrophe. You’re stuck, immobilized.
Stoics to the rescue! They remind us that what matters is not what happens to us but how we think about it. We have to learn to decatastrophize. Fortunately, they developed easy, practical exercises. Sounds like today’s cognitive therapy? OK. wat’s the matter with that?,
All this is laid out in clear, compelling ways in Donald J. Robertson’s gloriously mistitled book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor.
Don’t be put off by the title. It’s not about Caligula and you don’t have to aim at becoming Marcus Aurelius to benefit from it. When you’re through, pass the book on to a catastrophizing friend.
What’s your nominee for 2022?
The first nomination received for this year is decatastrophization. Yup. all seven syllables of it. (I prefer Anglo Saxon monosyllables, even if they sound more vulgar than their classicizing equivalent. But I know of no synonym for this tern, and, besides, there’s no time to waste. ) You’ve been fired from your job; your spouse has left you; you’ve gone bankrupt; you’ve made a typographical error. It’s a catastrophe. You’re stuck, immobilized.
Stoics to the rescue! They remind us that what matters is not what happens to us but how we think about it. We have to learn to decatastrophize. Fortunately, they developed easy, practical exercises. Sounds like today’s cognitive therapy? OK. wat’s the matter with that?,
All this is laid out in clear, compelling ways in Donald J. Robertson’s gloriously mistitled book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor.
Don’t be put off by the title. It’s not about Caligula and you don’t have to aim at becoming Marcus Aurelius to benefit from it. When you’re through, pass the book on to a catastrophizing friend.