Di-Worsification!

Di-Worsification!

© Allen Merritt (2017)

I came across a (non)word while listening to a conference session I was recording last week. The word was ‘diworsification’. Naturally, I thought the word was interesting and decided to write it down and stew on it a bit. I love word play, there’s no doubt. I also love the idea of coming up with words that play on thoughts, ideas or other words and/or situations we experience in our daily lives. I quickly recognized the speaker was creating his own word to utilize in his presentation as a means of making a point. However, for me, I wanted to use the same idea as a way to promote more positivity in consideration of all those moments that come along and try and kick us in the backside, up one side of the street and down the other. Imagine that!

How easy is it for us to react, get caught up in, go off the deep end, think the worst of a situation we consider unfavorable?

Do you think, “Could things get any worse?” or do you go right to the idea of, “It could be worse?”

When life becomes ‘worsified’ for you, what do you do? Think the worst? Make it worse? Try and escape it? Fight it? Embrace it or accept it? All of the above?

Or, do you see it for what it is, a temporary hitch in your get-along?

This week, let’s work on finding ways to turn it all around in the moment by catching it right away and nipping it in the bud, as they say. Remember, the word of the day is ‘diworsification’ or better yet, ‘de-worse-ification.’ What does it mean to deworsify?

Here’s my little definition of ‘deworse-ification.”

DE-WORSE-IFICATION: (verb) The act of removing chaos from a situation; the mental and physical changing of a situation from bad to better or good; the improvement of a situation; or, a proactive measure to conduct reversing the worsening of a circumstance or set of circumstances.

When life tries to bring you down, don't make it worse; de-worsify it!

• Detach yourself from the worst part of the situation. Attach a smile, humor and/or take a time out.
• Put the brakes on before confrontation and conflict take over by altering presentation, attitude and all sense of manners.
• Choose appropriate words to bring all parties in a situation to a communicative level.
• Practice conflict resolution.
• Be calm, cool and collected.

Deworsification includes finding a solution or resolution toward preventing matters from getting worse. One way to think of the word(s) worse, worser, worsest, worsening is to phonetically hear the word out. When you slowly pronounce and enunciate the word 'worse' or any of its associates you can attend to a little optimal word crying out to be heard. What word is that? That word is “were.”

‘Were’ when viewed in the past tense suggests we take the idea of the worst or worse and put it behind us and make it what was or were. In other words (pun intended), we were at our worse, but not anymore. What we were once was but is no more. My point is we must look at anything falling in the ‘worse’ category in past tense to make the present less tense, brighter and more positive. It may be a roundabout way of perceiving, but it can be a great tool and asset to us in times or turmoil. Put that in your tool box!

I challenge you this week to come up with your own ways to deworsify onry events as they happen. Put it behind you by remembering the ‘were’ component. 

Deworsification is a process whereby you make matters better and not worse.

With that in mind, have a great time living life on a positive note.

Cheers!