I’ve been thinking about this for a week or so now but after reading about one of my friends’ battle with a running injury called “the Lean” (kind of imagine what it says), I thought this was a good time to write about it.

Is there a difference in these two commands? And, if so, what is the difference? Who cares?

The last question is the easiest to answer. You should care especially if you care about supporting people, not just in athletic events but in all aspects of life.

If you write (or tell) “Just Keep Going” that makes the recipient feel that they will let you down if they can’t. There may be a physical injury that they could make worse. They may not know whether it’s that or not. In life, the individual may feel they will have to keep slugging along even if their gut feeling is that it may not be the correct action or decision.

You’d be surprised (or maybe you won’t be) how influential peer pressure is and how many people succumb to it. So, be careful what you advise.

In contrast, “Don’t Quit” gives people an option to slow down or even stop, assess the pros and cons or the possible dangers of going along the same old way. What “don’t quit” means is to keep pursuing your goal. The emphasis there is on YOUR goal. But we all know that there are different ways to achieve goals. Sometimes you can plod along on the highway straight ahead but at other times, you may need to stop and get gas, food and maybe even get some rest. Once, that is one, it’s also possible you might hear about road construction up ahead slowing all the traffic down. Or maybe weather conditions prevent safely continuing on the originally planned route. You’re not going to turn around and go home (depending, of course, on massive weather shutdowns but that’s not the norm). You’re going to reassess how to get to city X. You talk to some people, check things on your map app, call AAA or a combination of these. Once your plans have been revised, you’ll head off, most likely in another direction on another road. Maybe it will be longer, maybe shorter, maybe bumpier, maybe smoother. Who knows (that’s part of the excitement)? But you’ll get there. You didn’t quit. You reassessed and revised and regrouped.

Life is like that. If your goal is to help people you care about, then you’ll apply the “don’t quit” philosophy and offer help along the way. You’ll cheer them on as they regroup.

What are your thoughts and even more, how has this affected you in your life?

 I am not sure we pay enough attention to our bodies. I hear so much about mindfulness and I think it’s important but vague…perhaps that’s my analytical mind.

So, I thought it would be fun if periodically I picked a “body part” for us to concentrate on for, let’s say, a week. What you do to “concentrate” on it is up to you. Since I’m an avid gratitude journalist, it will be easy for me to write about whichever is the “part of the week” in my gratitude app. However, as I said, you can do anything. For example, if it’s “leg week” you could name your legs and thank each or both when you get up to get something to eat, or run or walk or anything. Make it fun.

Why do this? Other than you can make it fun, it will make you very grateful for the miraculous machine we have been given. As an aside, I heard a great statement the other day that I might write more about. “We are a spiritual being in a physical body but with an animal mind in a social context.” And we wonder why things are so complicated?

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming (for those of you old enough to remember that)….

This week’s special body part is your ears!

What do ears do for you?

Are they something you pay attention to in others?

Do you bite them?

Did you neglect them and now they don’t work as well?

If so, how can you show them your gratitude rather than your frustration or disappointment that they don’t do everything you’d like now?

What funny image can you make in your mind – rabbit ears on a rabbit – or on a TV (another old thing)? Were you ever smacked in the ear?

What memories do they bring back?

What do you think your life would be like without ears and their components?

When you’re sitting in traffic or waiting in line or waiting to pick up the kids, do something “with” your ears! Have fun and be grateful.

“It Is What It Is”

Not really.

How often do you hear this or even use it? What does it mean to you? Ii think it’s supposed to mean something like “it’s ok”, or “it’s out of my control” or….

But it’s one of those phrases that should be considered on a purely individual basis, not as a pontification for the world.

When I put the rocks in the road the other day to protect the fawn, “it was what it was” right?

Well, to me they were supposed to be a deterrent making people go around the little one.

To a cyclist, it meant “crap, something’s in my way and I have to go around or crash”.

To the deer (if it could think or interpret things) it meant “oh good, I’m safer right now”.

To a driver coming down the road it might mean either “oops, i better get off my phone and drive in the road, not the bike lane” or “what’s that noise” if they drive over the rocks because they were veering.

So, “what it is” is not the same for everyone. Maybe it should be “it is what it is – for me”.

Here’s what dictionary.com says it means:
“Deal with it. It is what it is is an expression used to characterize a frustrating or challenging situation that a person believes cannot be changed and must just be accepted.”

And this is from grammarist.com – “While it can be seen as a lack of desire or motivation to change or improve circumstances, the hidden meaning behind this phrase is deep understanding and acceptance that some things are beyond our control.”

I agree that some things are beyond our control but I also believe there are things we just use this phrase for that can definitely be influenced by our actions.

Sigh…it’s just another one of those “things” to me.

Are there phrases that get under your skin? If so, list them below.