Back in the 1970s, the late great humorist George Carlin made a splash with his routine “The 7 Dirty Words You Can’t Say On Television”. Of course, he was referring to seven salacious swear words that gave headaches to TV censors, who considered those words inappropriate and were hell-bent on preventing them from being broadcast on the G-rated television networks.
Inspired by this notion, I’m declaring a new list of seven words—7 Words To Be Eliminated From Your Vocabulary. These are all common words and would never for a second be bleeped out of a TV program. Yet I maintain that they can wreak more personal havoc on your life than saying the words piss or tits (two of his ‘dirty’ words) will ever do. These are the words that represent thought patterns or behaviors that can leave you feeling disempowered, less than, negative or simply uninspired. Guiding your focus away from these words can, instead, uplift you, raise your energy level, your creativity, and your happiness quotient.
We’re going to start today with:
Resentment
There’s a well-known quote about resentment that may sound old and tired but really holds a deep truth to it.
Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.
Of course, there are going to be times in your life when you feel as if you’ve been treated unfairly, gotten the wrong end of the stick or feel as if someone else has received what you believed was owed to you. It’s only natural to feel wronged by this. I get this. The problem arises when you carry this feeling of resentment over a period of time. It festers inside you, keeps you feeling powerless and weak and disables you from rising from the deep funk you’ve created for yourself.
The next time you sense that wave of resentment rushing over you, take these steps:
- Stop. Acknowledge that icky feeling inside you.
- Stay with the feeling. See where it shows up in your body. The pit of the stomach? An ache in your heart?
- Feel that body sensation. See if you can replace it with something empowering, like love. When you remember that resentment is temporary, you have the power to transform it into something that will help you, not hurt you.
- Let it go and move on.
