Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's Off to Work We Go

Have you ever noticed how often we use the word "work"? The dictionary defines work as : "exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil; task or undertaking; productive or operative activity and so on. But in real life, it has acquired a somewhat negative connotation. When a friend was recently complaining about his work, another friend said "that's why they call it work!"

We talk about "working" on our relationships, "working" on our personal growth, "working a goal", "working" on our spirituality, "working" on issues, "working" on planning a vacation, etc. We work in all areas of our lives, we apply ourselves, we toil.

Language is very important in how we view the world. It makes a big difference in our attitudes, our perceptions, and our world-view. Listen carefully to how people speak about their lives, how they use what words, and you'll get a much deeper understanding of who they are and what world they live in. For our own use, choosing different words can make a huge shift in our perception of the world, an activity, a relationship or any other activity. So noticing our language and using more appropriate language can actually change the way we think and feel about something.

I would like to propose that we change the word work to something else, something with a more positive slant. How about "play" or "experiment with" or "have fun with" or "explore" or "discover"? Each of these can be used interchangeably. What if we had fun with our relationships? What if we discovered our spirituality? What if we played with solving a problem? Doesn't that feel different? Doesn't that generate a different attitude, a different, more positive energy?

Let's see how we could use this new concept of "work".

1. Invite your team to play together rather than to work together.
2. Invite your mate to experiment with your relationship, rather than to work on your relationship.
3. Ask for others to explore with you rather than to work with you.
4. When planning a vacation or a new home or a new job, how about having fun with it instead of working on it.
5. Instead of working on body image, how about discovering body image?

What words can you think of to replace the word "work"? How can you use them to make shifts in your perception and energy?


All content copyrighted, 2006, Life Unfolds and Mary Anne Fields. All rights reserved.