Wordy Wednesday: The Restart

"Getting back [in]to it" is a phrase I am fast coming to despise! Even as I write this blog I am frustrated because this phrase comes to mind. I haven't posted now for a few weeks and I find each day I don't post makes it that much harder to post the following day. It's like waking up only to fall back asleep; each successive time you wake, you wake tireder (is that even a word?) than before, making it easier to fall back asleep and more challenging to rise up.

When I clicked on my blog this evening, I paused. I paused before clicking the "new post" button because I knew once I began writing the desire to write would take over, followed by the desire to "do it right", followed by the endless stream of ideas that even now flood my brain (i.e. this sentence originally ended with "take over" and then was added on to, twice). 

I knew once I began it would be half and hour to forty-five minutes before I finished, and quite frankly, tonight...I"m tired! And this is where that pesky little phrase "Getting back [in]to it" come in. There must be a first time; even if it is a second first time, or a fiftieth first time there must be a first time to start and a first time to restart. 

Let's face it, we live on restart! From New Year's resolutions, to exercise plans and diets, to relationships, jobs, passions, careers, colleges... you name it! 

Life is about what we do when the restart comes!

So what does it mean to restart? Does it mean to start again? To start anew? To start over? All of these have a different meaning (oh English language, you never cease to confuse me!). So let's look at RESTART:

re·start verb \(ˌ)rē-ˈstärt\

: to start again after stopping

: to start anew

: to resume (as an activity) after interruption

: to resume operation

Most of the definitions deal with a stopping of some kind regardless of the type of stop: interruption, loss of interest, lack of time. It doesn't matter why we stopped, just that we in fact DID. After the stop, however, is where I find interesting distinctions.

Anew vs. Again

anew adverb \ə-ˈnü, -ˈnyü\

: in a new or different form

: over again : once more

: for an additional time :  again anew

>

: in a new or different form anew

on film>

again adverb \ə-ˈgen, -ˈgin, -ˈgān\

: to a previous position or place

: for another time : one more time

:  another time :  once more

:  on the other hand 

Notice Anew deals with starting in a new or different place, while Again deals with previous position or place. When you restart do you try to do the same thing again or do you try to do things Anew? Or do you begin completely from scratch-starting over? I wonder how our terminology--the way we describe (and most likely view) our RESTART affects the results.

If I decide I am going to restart my exercise regiment by starting AGAIN this means I am starting in the same place, with the same mindset, I'm going to go back to what I was doing and start doing is again. Will this work? Why didn't it work the first time? What made me stop? Seems a counterproductive way of thinking.

Now, if I decide I am going to restart my exercise regiment ANEW it means I am coming into it with a different mindset, a different place, form, set of goals, etc. This feels much more positive, much more manageable. 

But not to say AGAIN is wrong and ANEW is right let me pose this a different way. I am RESTARTING my blog AGAIN. I like what I have been doing, and do not wish to change my format. I do not feel I need to start in a different place. Mine was not an issue of needing a change. Starting ANEW feels rather daunting and I believe would be counterproductive in this case. Coming back to the "familiar" is what I need right now.

I could go into Restarting as "Starting Over" at which point the old is eliminated and the slate wiped clean, but I feel for tonight I have achieved my goal: overcoming the dreaded RESTART and making peace, if only temporarily, with "getting back [in]to it".

Goodnight!