You’ve heard the saying that we become like those we’re around, right?
- Want to do the right things? Spend time with people who are doing the right things.
- Want to be successful? Spend time with people who are successful.
- Want to be a reader? Spend time with people who focus on reading.
- And so on.
I think that was sort of the principle at play when I realized that, while I don’t have a potty mouth by any means, I did have a few words in my casual vocabulary that were most definitely NOT Shannah-mom approved.
My current place of employment is a center of affirmation and wholesome talk. My last place of employment was definitely more…casual…in tone.
So I resolved to work on moving back to the language choice of my growing up years. I put staying avoiding bad words on my 101 list, defining bad words as words that my mom would not let me use while growing up.
That list is pretty long, y’all. Including the common term for a “bottom” – the one that also starts with a “b.”
This task was far harder than I expected. I’d make it easy-peasy a couple of days and then…a bad driver. Or a ridiculous email. Or a foot cramp that could take your breath away followed by a pain-inducing session with a foam roller.
So I repeated the challenge, week after week, until I could make it for a full seven days.
That took me nearly two months. Seriously.
Anyway, I finished my challenge nearly a week ago and have found that it’s remarkably easy to keep my word choice more on the Mom side than the Casual side. I guess I just needed to force myself to pay attention to start a new habit.
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