If you’ve read several of my posts, then you probably know that I think the words we use are important. I believe that language makes a difference in our lives and in our attitudes toward living well with diabetes. I am a word person baseline, but language as it relates to health is probably even more important to me than roots and prefixes, spelling, or grammar.
Words can have an impact on how we view our health and ourselves. Words can leave a subtle imprint (message), or they can be a slap in the face. Sometimes we don’t realize the effect words have on us. Thinking about and evolving in terms of the words we use and the words we avoid is an ongoing process – I’m learning more all the time.
One thing that people tend to say is “my weight.” While I am a strong believer in owning our health, our choices, and our attitude, I think attaching ourselves to weight can make it harder to take weight off. Something to consider is saying, “I plan to lose weight,” rather than “I need to lose my weight.” If it belongs to us, and there’s an attachment, how will we ever get rid of it? I propose detaching from the idea of extra weight as a prelude to taking the weight off our bodies. As if to say, “This doesn’t belong here.”
More on language another time, I’m sure!