When I was a small child my mother had a simple cardboard box in which she kept toys in closet. She believed that we would value our toys more if we didn’t always have all of them all around us to play with. So every few months she would take the toys that she felt we had grown tired of and put them in the box in the closet. Then she’d replace them with some of the toys from the box we hadn’t see for a long while.
It would be as if those old, forgotten toys were new when she brought them out again!
It doesn’t take much to make me think of that old cardboard box. I often wish we had a box like that for words that we’ve used too much — words we’ve grown so familiar with that they’ve lost meaning.
Imagine if we could make some words new again … restore them back to their original meaning.
Words like . . .
peace
joy
wonder
good will
wishes
awesome
irresistible
Take a moment to savor the words you use to define yourself, to describe the people you value, and to share your feelings about the people you value with them.
Stop to value what’s dear and delight in the familiar.
Be irresistible,
Liz
Put Your Mind to It
The words we choose are like the stories we tell. Without realizing their effect, choosing and using them changes us — how we see ourselves and how others see us. Consider the phrases you use without thinking, like answering, “I’m fine,” when people ask how you are. Try saying, “I’m fabulous.” Watch how that changes your day.
More from Liz . . . about the Value of Words
Images & Words: Are You Ready to Make Opportunity and Change the World?
How Do Get You People to Stop Listening to Words and Start Hearing Ideas?