But...

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‘But’. It’s a little word with a large impact. It usually comes up after an explanation why it is a good idea to do something ~ which may involve commitment of time and resources, and maybe more important; responsibility. Then there is ‘but’ ~ and here come the reasons or excuses why in the end we decide not to do it anyway...

Everything that is expressed before is swept away as soon as the word ‘but’ is uttered.

I think there are two things to keep in mind while looking at this dynamic. First, there is an awareness factor ~ are we aware of what we are saying as soon as we use the word ‘but’; and are we aware how often we use it? Second, there is the decision whether we want to do whatever it is ~ which links to reasons and excuses of why, or why not.

It is an interesting exercise to listen to what we are saying for a day or two in order to really become aware of what we are expressing... Are we just making conversation, or do we have something to say that we feel is important talking about...
And how much do we choose our words in order to adhere to what is considered ‘polite’.

After all, it is more polite to agree that it is a good thing to do, but... we are not going to do it (for whatever reason) ~ rather than just saying ‘I don’t want to do that at this point in time’.

In a sense, when we use the word ‘but’, we contradict ourselves.
The thing is that in doing this, we are making ourselves less believable. We say one thing, then another ~ all in the same sentence...

Another thing is that may happen when we do this, is that we take away from ourselves the ability to take positive action. Words have energy, and when we give our words an energy that contradicts ourselves; eventually the energy we put out is an energy that says: “let’s move forward, but don’t” ~ putting us in a space where it becomes very hard to accomplish anything!

By the same token, by expressing exactly what we intend to say in a straightforward manner, sets us up to take the action in the direction we focus on.

All of this makes that little word, ‘but’, a word that we may want to do without as my teacher Julian has said many times... It is a word that confuses, undermines, and stagnates our energy and forward movement. It is a word that doesn’t add anything positive to our lives.
So why use it?
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