Define It To Refine It !

3 minute read

 define ( Oxford Languages Dictionary)                                         

 verb

 1.‘state or describe exactly the nature, scope, or meaning of ’.

 Similar : expound; interpret; clarify; express in words.

 2. ‘mark out the boundary or limits of ’.

 Similar : specify; settle; decide; establish.

 To define is to be specific, enabling exploration and focus, to discover its reality, importance and priority.

 When we have an issue in life, perhaps personal or relational, or financial and practical, we can look below the surface, give it focus and define it, mark it out and find its perimeters. This will enable us to see some new things which were perhaps hidden, what it is and what it is not and who owns it and who does not.

 This definition becomes a boundary line. It does two things. It firstly defines the property or issue, who owns the responsibility of this issue and who does not and secondly, because it is defined, the important things can then be protected.

 refine ( Oxford Languages Dictionary)

 verb

 1.  ‘ remove impurities or unwanted elements from (a substance), typically as part of an industrial process’.

 Similar : purify; clarify; clear; cleanse; sift; improve; perfect; finish.

 To refine is to be able to work on something to bring out of it a better outcome, something of value that was previously unworkable or unusable or unattractive.

 These concepts of defining and refining can be applied to our physical world and also to our internal world.

 When we can define it, we can refine it.  When things are unclear, undefined, blurred by emotion, or somehow covered over, we are rendered powerless to be resourceful and creative, to find solutions and importantly …to find out what we do have control over and what we do not have control over, which will take us out of ‘overwhelm’ and…

… reduce our stress!

  Defining is the doorway to refining.