They are full of so much meaning. And because I have an MSU to “make shit up”, I weave words together to create scripts for what I want to create in my life.
Let’s take the word but. For a very long time, I have avoided using the word “but” as often as I can. Whenever I used that word, I felt it negated everything I said before it.” I love you honey, but…”. “I love that new outfit, but…” “This is so delicious, but…” You get the picture.
Recently I began to view “but” in a whole new light.
People on the quest to flourish are often a bit more conscious about utilizing their thoughts to support deliberate creation of their desires. When they notice the negative messages they tell themselves, they change them.
A lot of my clients use affirmations to help them reframe their thinking. If they start to berate themselves about being unhealthy, they shift that limiting belief to a positive thought, such as “I am healthy.”
They use the new thought to shift neural pathways in their brain, and over time, begin to see themselves as healthy and begin to make healthier choices. This was the method I used to stop smoking cigarettes many years ago. Even when I was outside “enjoying” a smoke, I would tell myself that “I prefer health”. I would repeat that regularly. Over time, I smoked less and then eventually quit.
The thing with affirmations is that for some people, the new belief feels like a lie, so they have a problem saying it and believing it. The process is not always a success.
Here is where my new relationship with the word “but” comes in.
If it does negate what was said before, why not use the word “but” to negate the negative thought that we are making up anyway. Remember, all of our thoughts are made up, so we can manipulate them in any way we choose.
For example, If I wake up and am nervous about an upcoming speaking engagement, the inner dialogue may go like this – “I am so nervous about giving my new talk tonight, but I know that I’ve been nervous before and everything has worked out. I’ve practiced my talk and know that when I’ve shared it in the past, I received great reviews. I ‘m nervous, but this is the perfect opportunity to share my message with this group that has invited me to support the success of their organization”
Can you see the power of “but” here? It negates the undesirable message I’m telling myself and assists me to build a new story to shift my limiting belief.
Using “but” to negate a restricting belief shifts the negativity and moves me more towards possibility.
We talk to ourselves on a regular basis, so why not use words in a way that move us closer to what we want to create, while enjoying the process?
Try it next time. Excuse me while I put some words in your mouth. You may be thinking, “I am not sure that will work for me, but it is worth a try to perform a simple action that will give me profound results.”