It Goes Without Saying
… who says it does?
Some of the people who read this blog have, by now, come to recognize the overuse of elipses… indicating that you are about to get some off-the cuff remarks…as if I ever have ever written remarks on my cuffs? Would that be the cuffs on my shirts because they offer limited writing space and I often roll them up so they would be of limited utility. So maybe we’re talking about the cuffs on my pants or slacks? Well I mostly wear sweats and the cuffs are often covered by socks or sort of folded under and around… So these remarks aren’t off the cuff…
So what other phrases do I abuse? There are so many… and some of the ones I use I am now seeing all over print and web media. Some are sales phrases.
This is a limited time offer….. while supplies last… special offer just for you…
A “limited time offer?”
Well captain obvious… we have a human experience that does not extend forever in the realm of time as of yet… so every little thing is a limited time offer. Life is a limited time offer. That means that any offer might be like a snowflake in a blizzard of limited time offers.
While supplies last?
Of course …. Because when things don’t exist (or the supply is at zero) then you can’t have it right now. And supplies are limited… same notion. At any given moment in life experiences are either available, can be made available, or are not available. The trick here is in seeking peace and joy choices have to be made in terms of whether or not your spirit is available and paying attention to what is being supplied or what might be available right now.
No Pressure…
Well there’s a lie for you…When someone asks you about something or for something and says “no pressure” it’s as a buffer to hide rejection. So.. if someone says “Hey would you like to go to dinner with me.. and like no pressure.” Are they really saying “I really want to see what life would be like if we shared a meal or two but I don’t want you to know that I have a fragile ego and it’s hard for me to admit I will feel rejected if you don’t feel like I do? Most the time when most people..myself included say no pressure they are saying “I hope you will join this experiment with me… but I don’t want to admit to you what my reactions to your answer might be. There is no such thing as “no pressure.”
Come to think of it….. what would happen if there actually were “no pressure?” Well for one no pressure—no wheels. Oh sure there are a few solid rubber tires out there and some plastic ones too, however, most the transportation we navigate the streets with just wouldn’t go so smoothly without pressure. Yep and no pressure—no modern bathroom functions like a nice soothing shower or a good cleansing flush. So maybe that phrase needs to be used a little less…but no pressure.
So… all the above was intended to remind all of us that we see phrases that don’t make much sense and they are often meant to convince us that we should do something before time runs out or while supplies last however these phrases leave out some critical information like? While supplies last doesn’t get followed up by “but no pressure we have plenty or can create more.” Well…. Maybe in seeking peace and joy it is important to reflect on what some of the other actors using language in a lazy way might have you believe instead of encouraging you to explore the world and your actual thoughts and emotions.
The next time you are offered a “lifetime” guarantee please be bold enough to ask “what’s a lifetime”
A May fly lives 24 hours tops… a redwood lives hundreds of years and also if something quits working isn’t its lifetime done so doesn’t everything have a lifetime guarantee?
Well well… to sum this all up maybe the best way to avoid falling for a bad deal isn’t looking for what others can offer or guarantee, but to flip the script and focus on what we have to offer and keep offering it, recreating it while supplies last, and to put it out there for others to share… with just a little pressure.
And of course “watch what you say” or smell what you hear?
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