Hello everyone and welcome to day 22 of NaBloPoMo! Lately I’ve been thinking about how powerful words are… how the simple act of using one word rather than another can change everyone’s mood in a moment.
A couple different times lately when I’ve asked someone, “How are you?” they answered, “Fantastic!” I noticed that hearing the word “fantastic” gave me a little jolt of pleasure. Either the person was extremely happy in that moment, or they had made the conscious decision to spread positivity (I suspect the latter, because in one of the instances it was the person taking my order at Chipotle, and I don’t imagine that’s a job that sparks spontaneous joy.)
Either way, I’m trying to incorporate “fantastic” into my vocabulary. And another word I’ve been embracing is “perfect.” To start with, I use it every time I do a massage. At some point in the massage, I ask the client to turn over. They also have to slide down to a slightly different position on the table, and you’d be surprised how difficult this is for people. They drag half the blanket with them, they frequently end up diagonal or way over to one side of the table. Some people have trouble turning over at all. When they’re finally turned they’ll usually say “Am I okay?” and (if they’re anywhere near the position I want them in) I’ll respond “You’re perfect!”
Again, it’s funny what a little jolt of pleasure that gives me. I think it makes the client feel good as well- sometimes people will respond happily, “Oh! Good.” Sometimes they’ll even say “Oh, I’m perfect!” I could have said “you’re fine.” But why say “fine” when you could upgrade it to “perfect?”
A third word I’ve been trying to incorporate is “astounding.” This one is a little more difficult. My Peloton yoga teacher used it the other day. He was explaining different ways you could modify a difficult pose- basically he was saying to do it in whatever degree you’re capable, but if you’re able to do the entire pose, “astounding!” I thought, ooh! I want to be astounding! And I want to use that word! The definition of astounding is “surprisingly impressive or notable” so it’s a little harder to insert into an ordinary day- I can’t really tell the Starbucks barista that my drink is astounding, or tell my client that they’ve turned over “astoundingly” without sounding like a kook. But I’m trying.
What about you? Do you have certain words that you love to use? Have you ever noticed someone using a certain word and the effect it had on you?
Have an astounding (heh heh!) day!
20 Responses
My sister-in-law uses “fabulous” all the time and since I know it’s her version of “fine,” it’s sort of lost all of its power to me. Ha!
Ha, good point- if I start saying “fantastic” all the time it won’t really mean anything. I’ll have to switch it up!
I love that you’re thinking more about the words you use and how they make you feel…. I tend to agree that some responses can spark more joy than others. Like NGS said, if you know that someone uses a word in place of a mediocre response like “fine”, then it’s hard to feel excited about it…. but most times I would agree that choosing words that have a more positive spin is a smart choice.
I like the word “excellent” as a positive response. I also use “fantastic” a lot (usually if I try to avoid the word “awesome”, which is terribly overused haha).
Yes, I agree- awesome is so overused, it doesn’t really mean anything anymore. “Excellent” is another good one though!
I love the “you’re perfect” one, that would make me feel happier and confident I hadn’t messed up! I use “Marvellous” quite a lot but then I’m British and I think we do.
Yes, Americans don’t really say “marvelous”- but it would be fun to throw it into conversation every once in a while!
Hmmm. I hadn’t really thought about this, but a fascinating topic. I heard someone say once that they always responded – when asked how they were doing – “Never been better.” This struck me as such a nice response. That said…I think it’s important to be honest, too, and don’t think I could/would want to always use this answer – some days are decidedly horrible and I don’t want to have to sugar coat it…
I completely agree that overuse of certain words can cause them to lose their meaning, at least in certain contexts?
I think that manta’s or repeated phrases can be a really great thing in parenting, though. But one line I read YEARS ago and say to my kids every week is “You are a joy and a blessing.” I say this when I don’t feel it, I say this when I’m tired and grouchy because I mean it, deep down, even in those tough times. And sometimes the kids will tell me: “Mommy you’re a joy and a blessing.” I say “I love you” lots, but naming what they mean in a more specific way…but using the same phrase over and over…feels like our own inside love language?
I, for one, LOVE gold stars and would LOVE to be told I was doing something perfectly.
Your story reminds me of a co-worker who used to say, when asked how she was doing, “Living the dream!” She was obviously being sarcastic, but it still kind of brightened things up because it was funny.
That’s an awesome thing to say to your kids. They’ll hear it over and over again, and grow up knowing that it’s true. It’s perfect! 🙂
Interesting topic. I have never thought about the use of specific words. Now I will pay more attention to understand if I prefer a word instead of another.
It’s very possible that some people don’t really care about using one word rather than another- not everyone is a “word” person. Just like I’m not a “numbers” person.
I use amazing, probably too much. Also beautiful – not too much, because so many things are beautiful – and a word I would like to use more is tremendous.
Hmm, yes- tremendous! I want to start using that as well.
Very interesting. I’ll have to pay more attention. But I think I overuse the word Awesome. What does that mean? Lol.
I agree that awesome is way overused! It doesn’t really mean much anymore.
Fun post! I love “you’re perfect”- I also try to say, “ABSOLUTELY” instead of yes. 🙂 It makes people happy, ha!
Yes, that’s a perfect example of a word upgrade! I like that one too.
Words are so powerful – I say this as someone whose love language is words of affirmation and whose entire day can get thrown off if someone uses a word that trips me up, haha. I usually say “Oh, you’re fine!” if someone apologizes about getting in my way in the grocery store, and I hope it does make people feel better. It would be nice to incorporate “fantastic” into my lingo when someone asks me how I’m doing, though!
Yes I actually like “You’re fine!” I like to decrease people’s stress if I can.
Oh the power of words. Yes definitely. Can get behind that. I choose a guiding word every year and there is so much power and magic in it. However I have never really taken enough notice on how I use certain words or how I can “upgrade” them. But it is such a simple thing to do and make someone smile. Thank you for that. I need to try it myself and spread some more positivity.
Yes, I know a lot of people choose a theme for the year and I’ve never done that. Maybe I should do it for 2022!