This post is about phrases which I use, which help me get through *those* days - you know the ones I mean. Some will, I'm sure, read these phrases and think they're trite. Well that's fine with me. But I take comfort in them and welcome their simplicity.
It is what it is. This is one of my favourite, and most used phrases. It may sound trite, but actually I find it very useful, when talking about things over which you have no control, over which there is nothing you can do to change it. Example: I went to a friend’s birthday party at a slightly down at the heel pub. It wasn’t a private members club in Soho, it wasn’t exclusive. It was full of friendly people. As I arrived, and was prepared to be fully underwhelmed and disappointed with the whole situation I just repeated to myself, ‘It is what it is’ and got on with it. Example: One of Mum’s cats reached 18 years old earlier this year. She was eating less and less, sleeping more and more, it was only going in one direction. Mum was trying to fight the inevitable, suggesting dosing her up with medication, and I looked at the little cat and said to Mum, ‘It is what it is,’ Mum nodded slowly. She let the cat pass away quietly on her bed.
This too shall pass. This was Claire Raynor’s favourite phrase, and is particularly useful when going through a difficult time in life. It’s helpful to remember, no matter how awful something is, that time will pass, it will not continue like that forever.
What’s the game? This was introduced to me by a friend who’d worked at a research agency. She would receive briefs from clients to carry out huge research projects to tell them all sorts about their customers, reveal what the company should be doing in the next few years, and solve world debt at the same time. Apart from that being unrealistic, the answers to most of those questions could probably be found with a bit of furkling around internally. However, this company was poised, pen above a large cheque, asking if her company could find out the answers to those questions. Was she going to refuse, and tell them to do it themselves? What do you think? The game was that the company wanted this solution to come from another organisation’s work, so that was the game she played. This can be applied to many things. Find the game, and it’s all so much easier to cope with. It’s a bit like being in your own little play. It’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever had.
In every job that must be done, there’s an element of fun; find the fun, and *snap* the job’s a game. *hanging head slightly* OK, hands up, it’s from the film, Mary Poppins, but it’s a pretty good phrase don’t you think? You didn’t expect a blog post from me without at least one reference to a musical did you? Who hasn’t looked at a pile of ironing and groaned. I used the ironing as an excuse to watch TV shows I knew the BF wouldn’t like – and that’s how I discovered Gilmore Girls. Bonus.
What are your phrases which act as little crutches of words during the day? I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Liam Livings xx
It is what it is. This is one of my favourite, and most used phrases. It may sound trite, but actually I find it very useful, when talking about things over which you have no control, over which there is nothing you can do to change it. Example: I went to a friend’s birthday party at a slightly down at the heel pub. It wasn’t a private members club in Soho, it wasn’t exclusive. It was full of friendly people. As I arrived, and was prepared to be fully underwhelmed and disappointed with the whole situation I just repeated to myself, ‘It is what it is’ and got on with it. Example: One of Mum’s cats reached 18 years old earlier this year. She was eating less and less, sleeping more and more, it was only going in one direction. Mum was trying to fight the inevitable, suggesting dosing her up with medication, and I looked at the little cat and said to Mum, ‘It is what it is,’ Mum nodded slowly. She let the cat pass away quietly on her bed.
This too shall pass. This was Claire Raynor’s favourite phrase, and is particularly useful when going through a difficult time in life. It’s helpful to remember, no matter how awful something is, that time will pass, it will not continue like that forever.
What’s the game? This was introduced to me by a friend who’d worked at a research agency. She would receive briefs from clients to carry out huge research projects to tell them all sorts about their customers, reveal what the company should be doing in the next few years, and solve world debt at the same time. Apart from that being unrealistic, the answers to most of those questions could probably be found with a bit of furkling around internally. However, this company was poised, pen above a large cheque, asking if her company could find out the answers to those questions. Was she going to refuse, and tell them to do it themselves? What do you think? The game was that the company wanted this solution to come from another organisation’s work, so that was the game she played. This can be applied to many things. Find the game, and it’s all so much easier to cope with. It’s a bit like being in your own little play. It’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever had.
In every job that must be done, there’s an element of fun; find the fun, and *snap* the job’s a game. *hanging head slightly* OK, hands up, it’s from the film, Mary Poppins, but it’s a pretty good phrase don’t you think? You didn’t expect a blog post from me without at least one reference to a musical did you? Who hasn’t looked at a pile of ironing and groaned. I used the ironing as an excuse to watch TV shows I knew the BF wouldn’t like – and that’s how I discovered Gilmore Girls. Bonus.
What are your phrases which act as little crutches of words during the day? I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Liam Livings xx
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