Rethink What You are Thinking

Mondays generally get a bad rap, but Mondays will be about as marvelous as you decide they will be. While circumstances and other people can have a major impact on your day … you have control over what you make of the day. If you are always tired on Mondays, maybe you need to decide to get more sleep on the weekend. So stop thinking your Monday will be bad and give Monday the respect you give the other days.

I often repeat cliches and popular sayings … and believing Mondays will be a down day is just one of many common beliefs I’ve been rethinking over the past few years.

I’ve been examining common sayings and wondering at their accuracy. When I draw conclusions that are different than the norm, I sometimes have a hard time trusting my conclusions. I assume I must be off-base. After all if ‘everyone’ thinks/says that … who am I to say it’s off?

But someone someday said each saying for the first time and then slowly others repeated it … so why can’t someone now question the saying?

Many sayings become popular because they contain elements of truth and familiarity that we identify with. But some become popular simply because hearing or reading something often enough can convince us it is true … whether or not it actually is.

When I think/say/hear an oft-repeated phrase I try to determine what the truth or value is by turning it over in my mind. Like looking at the snow-globe my son ‘needed’ from an over-priced gift shop that’s been collecting dust for too many years. I examine it. Checking out the nicked spots and the cracks. It’s familiar. It brings back memories. But is it still something we need? I try to decide if it’s valuable or not. Could it someday be a family heirloom, a treasured antique or is it something that should be added to the local landfill?

In the same way, I’m cautious about throwing out or revamping familiar sayings too quicker, because I wonder if I’m missing their true value or if I might agree with them again someday … just like my son won’t miss that snow-globe until after I throw it.

Yet, some sayings simply aren’t accurate and others lose their value and/or need to be edited.  I’ve written about some that need amendments like … Everything happens for a reason and  Time heals, but others like One step at a time still hold true.

As we know, there’s an exception to every rule … so while a saying might hold true for certain circumstances or people, it cannot always apply to everything. Yet I’ve seen people doing mental gymnastics or checking their brain at the door trying to make a saying work for everything.

A few other sayings that I question are …

Curiosity killed the cat … really? Isn’t curiosity how we learn?

Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life. Huh? I love how running makes me feel, but it does involve work. Some days I feel great while running, but other days it’s nothing but work.

Women can’t _________ because they are women or are too emotional or too sensitive or ________. In different settings and with different groups, different words fill the blanks. Why?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you think … are these still tried-and-true sayings or is it time to edit or retire them?

Are there any popular sayings that cause you to say “huh?”