© 2006 by Dino R. Federico
(Thankfully we now live in an era where dialogue, digital media forums, public statements, position papers, etc. are the means of interaction between people, states, and countries. Hopefully, we'll never return to primitive physical aggression as our first method of expression. So here are a few thoughts to be reminded of in the current time of Wars on [fill in the blank, ie, Terror, Drugs, Religion, etc.] )
War is raw ...almost, when phonetically reversed, and most certainly always and exclusively in character.
Love seemingly becomes evolve when written repeatedly in reverse at just the right speed.
When people say “Nothing is forever”, they are correct;
and rightly so, I say, ‘cause who would ever want the exact same thing over and over, forever and ever.
Maybe love does evolve…. shouldn’t it?
Always is impossible; really... I’m serious about this; stop and think….
Always, anytime, anybody, anywhere, every time, everyone, everybody, everywhere, forever, and never are complete conundrums of impossibilities.
I am confident enough in this reality check to call for the elimination of these words from our language.
You disagree? Well, let’s try a couple examples:
“He is always late for work.”
“She never comes to our Sunday brunches.”
“Everywhere I look, someone’s talking on a cell phone.”
Are each more accurately stated:
“He is often late for work.”
“She has yet to attend our Sunday brunch.”
“When I view a group of people, I often observe one or more using a cell phone.”
Okay, you might argue this is no more than frivolous semantics, sorta like "you say toe-may-toe, I say toe-maw-toe." However, I view this as more than a simple personal choice of words; I experience the use of these types of words as a matter of truth or falsehood. Not that people are trying to lie, but more importantly, we’ve grown accustomed to “almost-the-truth” language; and just as worse, exaggerated, embellished, and extremist language.
Hey, I’m not so fixated or stuck on perfection, proper English, and the like to not listen and understand what is said or written. Yet I stand on my ground that the issue of truth is seriously at stake.
If we spoke the truth about the topics of our conversations, we would talk less, yet communicate more.
Haven’t you noticed it seems people are using more words to explain what they are trying to say, and to clarify any possible misperceptions or understandings; and yet that just wastes time and usually confuses things more?
To wrap this up, so to speak [grin], let me put it simply like this:
When you speak, speak the truth. Be a person of your word.
Resist the urge to explain and clarify what you are saying.
Avoid using the “superlatives” or extreme words like always and never.
Resist the urge to comment or speak to every thing said during a conversation;
in other words, listen more, and understand more without offering your two cents;
unless of course you are a KNOW IT ALL.
Stay positive as much as possible in your choice of words; Yes! Think before you speak.
Sometimes the time you spend thinking about what to say will make you aware you really don’t need to speak at all in that moment.
Finally and most important, trust the truth. People will listen to you more, respect you and your view more, and even like you more when you practice saying less to communicate more.
