Life's Real Profanity

CAUTION: ADULT LANGUAGE BELOW
YOU ARE NOW WARNED

I have been giving a lot of thought lately to "bad words". See I have 6 and 8 year old boys and they are just now starting to explore the exciting new world of swear words.  It is not uncommon in my house to hear about how so-and-so said the "S Word", or to hear my youngest tattling on his brother from across the house because "Keegan said the B-word Mom!"

Even a couple weeks ago, Quinlan looked at me with the sweetest of faces and asked as innocently as can be, "Mom, why is Fuck a bad word?"  Talk about a moment when you have to stay composed and not laugh!

As I try to explain to them why society has classified these words as bad, I find myself having a hard time.  I really don't believe they are bad words.  Rather I try to explain that the intention behind the words is often rude and that many people find them disrespectful and it reflects poorly on them as people and so that is why they should not use these words.  I don't admit it to them, but when you stub your toe in the middle of the night, "FUCK" is probably the only appropriate word!

These discussions led me to ask myself if I think any words should get the infamous label of "BAD" and I will admit there is one that I find so heinous I will genuinely call it “BAD”.

 

 SHOULD

The Original Swear Word

The word “Should” is a foul word because its use immediately passes judgment on the actions a person is taking.   You “should” eat healthier automatically says “you don’t eat healthy enough now”.   And the worst part about the word is how frequently we apply this word to ourselves.  I am guilty as charged. 

I should be a faster runner

I should be a better mom

I should be thinner

I should look prettier

And on and on I could go

We do ourselves an injustice each and every time we tell ourselves we “should” be something different or we “should” be better than we are because what we are really telling ourselves is that we aren’t good enough as we currently exist.

For myself, I am striving to replace “should” with other verbs that don’t tear me down, but rather empower me to be the best version of myself I can be.

 FUCK the word "should" - I will Strive to celebrate who I am and the work I am doing to be the best me I can be.