Tuesday, April 26, 2011

‘Don’t’ and the million words that precede or follow...

How many times do you use the word 'don’t'?

I wondered that myself when I caught myself saying it to my daughter in a moment of epiphany.  Whether it’s preceded or followed, is ‘don’t’ always negative?

“Don’t do…”

“Don’t be…”

“Why don’t you…”

“How come you don’t…”

Words are powerful. The way we put them together, the way we say them and the way we feel them determine their impact and how important they are to us.

But maybe ‘don’t’ isn’t all bad…

A friend and author, Rachel Firasek, just recently blogged “Don’t hide from life.”  This really hit me right in the middle of my forehead.  I finished writing my first book and realized that I had put so much of myself into it, that I’d withdrawn into my own writing world so much that even friends and family recognized my absence from reality. Her post was pretty powerful at a moment when I needed to see it the most.

My lesson: Finding balance is critical in all things. And ‘don’t’ isn’t always bad.  Sometimes it’s a wakeup call.

~Melissa

Reference:
Rachel’s blog post: http://shywriters.blogspot.com/2011/04/rachel-firasekgrab-life.html

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