Replacing negative with positive

I read an article online about becoming more efficient by using text replacement functionality. As an example, you type ‘brb’ and the words ‘be right back’ magically appear instead. It reminded me of the time that a colleague pulled a prank on me that replaced Mary with ‘old hag’. It was hilarious as I carefully crafted a note…and suddenly my name was replaced. It took me a long time to figure out what was happening as I heard snickering near by. Besides being funny, it reminded me I needed to lock my laptop if I ever stepped away from my desk. Anyway, the functionality has been around a long time, I just haven’t used it – do you? Carpe Diem! I haven’t taken advantage of it…until now.

I initially set one up that replaced ‘very’ with ‘darn-tootin’, which helped me to see how often I used the word ‘very’ and put a smile on my face because it reminded me of a friend of mine, Jeff S., in Dallas Texas who practically made that his catch phrase. It also reminded me of this Laurel and Hardy gem. My personal Laurel and Hardy favorite is Twice Two, but here’s a list to pick from.

This morning I thought of a much better use of the functionality, which I have put in place for two words now (and likely will expand out). Your words shape your mind, so if you say ‘fat’, ‘old’, ‘ugly’, etc., all of those words spin around and around in your brain. The truth is that most women have terrible body images which they subconsciously reinforce by saying, typing, thinking negative thoughts throughout the day. For now, I’ve replaced ‘fat’ with ‘hot’ and ‘old’ with ‘amazing’.

What this exercise will tell me is how often I use those two negative words, which will provide insight into how often I am having negative thoughts and/or saying/thinking negative things about myself. I can’t wait to see the impact. Can you imagine looking in the mirror and instead of thinking “I’m so ‘old'”, you actually think “I am so hot!” Boom! a nice confidence boost!

Or as they sing in The Jungle Book, ‘Accentuate the positive’.

You’re darn tootin welcome!