The F Word

An unrelated picture of a rice field in Chiang Rai, Thailand

 "Schweeeet! That is Schweet! Everything is Schweet!" I used to say that. I don't remember where I picked it up, or how long I said it for, but I remember I thought it, and I, were so cool. Instead of "sweet," which normies say, I would add the “sch” sound, "schweet." It had a ring to it that I really loved. I'm actually a little embarrassed by that now. But, since I work with teenagers all the time, I recognize it as totally normal, and weird, teenage behavior.

I don't know when I stopped saying it. I don't remember if I purposely decided to stop using it, or if I just did. But, over the years, I can think of several other words or phrases that I had to choose to stop using. Either they were annoying, inappropriate, or I just caught myself saying it too often.

Well, I'm actively working on eliminating a word from my vocabulary again. I'll tell you what it is soon. But first, let me tell you why I want to stop using it.

This word is a "feeling" word. But, it is just about the vaguest feeling word ever. I notice that I use it in place of other, more specific feeling words. And, I’ve observed a lot of people doing the exact same thing. Actually, I think that most of the time, maybe 80% of the time that this word is used, it is replacing the word "ANGRY." But anger is bad, and scary, and TOO MUCH. So, I use this vague word instead.

Do you know what it is?

Frustrated!

Did you guess, correctly?

The definition of frustration is: "The feeling of being upset or annoyed, especially because of inability to change or achieve something."

And you know what? That's a good word to use sometimes. I think I probably feel frustrated a lot. But, I don't think I feel frustrated as often as I say the word. A lot of times I probably need to say, “That made me angry.” Or, “I feel stuck.” Or possibly even, “I don’t know what that made me feel, but it wasn’t good.”

I am working on being more precise with the words that I use. And, that means that I don’t want to use the word frustrated, unless I know for sure that I am FRUSTRATED!!!