The dressing is gone from my surgical wound and the leg brace has been loosened to 30 degrees, so recovery is going very well - which means that we’re back and resuming our series of danger words. Not words that I’m suggesting you ban altogether because every word has its uses, but certainly words that should have little alarm bells attached to them, warning you if they start to become habitual. And to prove the point, I just used the one we’re focusing on today: BUT.
I can’t think of another word in the English language that so often blocks communication, compromises connection and holes possibility below the waterline. It can be very useful, however, as a proxy score for your negativity quotient: like NO, and NOT, habitual or suddenly increased usage is a good indicator that you might be feeling overly negative, and a signal to take a little inventory and perhaps sit down and write a gratitude list to get things back in perspective.
The antipode of BUT is AND… try doing a straight swap, which works pretty much anywhere, and you may start to feel increased positive flow in your communication.
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