I love looking at fashion, but I’m definitely far from being a clothes horse or shoe fanatic. Actually, I haven’t been shopping in a few months. I do understand that many people are, however. I know a number of people that love shoes, buy shoes before they have an outfit to match, and would fight if you tried to pry a coveted pair from their hands.
I’m sure you’ve heard stories, seen pictures, or you might just be a shopaholic yourself….and there’s nothing wrong with this at all. We all have things that we like and might possibly collect. I love tea pots and have a beautiful fledgling collection.
But I know people who can spend hours looking for the right pair of shoes, making sure they match their outfit to a T, making sure they’ll have the baddest pair in the club, work, or church.
And again, I really don’t think there’s anything wrong with such behavior, as long as you’re not going broke.
I do have a problem, however, when our image (that we work so hard on) doesn’t reflect who we really are. Looking like a church going man or woman, professional, or a prince, but speaking without control, substance, or foresight…..
Last week, as I waited for a seminar to begin, I wrote a poem in response to this frustration. The focus was learning to choose the appropriate words, learning to be strategic with our word choice….sort of like we are with our shoes.
Actually, the last line of the poem is ‘choose your words like you choose your shoes.’
I have no idea where the directive came from, but I couldn’t get the simile out of my head. Choose your words like you choose your shoes so they’ll match your motive, your character, the person to whom you’re speaking, and the image that your trying to project.
Most importantly, choose your words like you choose your shoes so you can be a blessing, be heard, be effective, and encounter the least resistance.
BMWK family, is it impossible to be more conscious of the words we use? Is our language and word choice set in stone? Can our vernacular change at 30 or 40? What other similes would you use to compare to word choice?
It’s So Nice To Be Nice
http://www.itssonicetobenice.com
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good article! We should be able to stand on our word like we stand in our shoes. Will your words hold up like your favorite pair of shoes.
@Thanks for your input RoniJ…..that’s certainly another way of looking at it. When i wrote the poem, I didn’t think about our words “holding up” or making sure that we’re “practicing what we preach,” but we certainly need to be accountable.
You know I think you posted this comment especially for me. I take great care in the morning to ensure that my outward appearance reflects a certain status and unfotunately my mouth sometimes does not reflect the same status. I was actually just thinking about this yesterday after another incident where I let my mouth move faster than my thoughts. I will make more of an effort starting now to ensure that my shoes are not the best part of my image.
@Donna,
Thanks so much for sharing your intentions and self-reflection. It’s important to remember that nobody’s perfect, so it’s expected that we’ll make mistakes, but when we put little to no effort into organizing our speech we can expect slip-ups and often times a chaotic mess, with clean-up to boot.