#WOTD: But What Say You!
But, mais, ma, pero.
“He who controls others may be powerful. But he who has mastered himself is mightier still” - Lao Tzu
One of the most powerful words in any language is the word 'but'. We often use it with no idea of the thought behind the word. In some cultures such as the Jewish culture the word 'but' is forbidden and often not acknowledged, it is that powerful.
The word cancels out anything that comes before it in a previous sentence. For example, what if we say..."I know I can be a VP with my company. But, they won't promote me." By using the word 'but' you actually behaviorally and emotionally cancel out your own knowing that you could be a VP with your company.
And what about this, "I know it's not right to judge and that I should forgive. But, you don't know how bad they hurt me." The use of the word 'but' well in essence cancels out the positive thought that you should forgive and not judge.
Such a little word. Such a powerful force.
When I was little my dad taught me to read from a first grade primer called, "Fun With Dick and Jane," one sentence stuck out for me and as a kid I repeated it all the time. At my dad's funeral as we were each saying the thing we remembered about my dad,a great educator - I stood to tell how I learned that sentence in "Fun with Dick and Jane."
The story centered around Dick and Jane's friend Sally. Dick and Jane had climbed up a small mound to be king and queen of the hill. They shouted encouragement to Sally to follow. Sally stood there crying her eyes out and looked up at Dick and Jane and said, "I want to do it...but I can't." The story ended with, "But Sally could not do it." As often as my dad read that story to me he always put the emphasis on the word 'but' and would explain that she couldn't because she had 'but' her way out of it.
Today, know this to be true...It's the 'buts' of life that make the world a dangerous place. Like Albert Einstein once said, “The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil. But because of the people who don't do anything about it."
Have a Totally Teriffic Thursday!
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Yolanda
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