Blurt Foundation: Stamping Out The Stigma, One Word At A Time
I am or I have
How many times have you used the words “I am” when actually “I have” would be sufficient? Thinking about myself I know I have done so many times, and I still do.
Let’s use an example: If a person were to attend a job interview and say “I am qualified”, it gives the impression that the person is only qualified, and that there may not be much more about the person. But if the same person were to say “I have qualifications”, it implies that the person has many qualifications, and opens up discussion about said qualifications.
By replacing one word the sentence is altered & takes on a totally different context.
Now, taking these sentence starters, I want you to apply them to yourself. For example, for me I would say “I am silly” – this implies I am silly all the time and am nothing else. But by saying “I have silliness” it implies that there is a part of me that is silly – further implying that I have other qualities to my personality.
Taking this further: “I am depressed” implies that depression is the only thing about me. But by saying the phrase “I have depression” it implies that I am living with depression and there are other qualities about me.
I don’t want to be known as “just depressed Natalie”. So from now on I’m going to try to use the “I have…..” sentence starter to help others see that my mental health problems are just a small part of me and I have many other qualities. I know it’s not going to be easy to change my way of thinking but hopefully the more I say “I have….” instead of “I am….” this will keep my optimism and positivity up.
Maybe it’s worth you trying too….?
You can follow Natalie on Twitter here. What simple changes have you made which have had a positive effect?
I always enjoy reading your posts, you can explain things so well and it all makes sense. I am certainly going to try and adopt this way of thinking – thank you.
Hi Natalie,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, it was an interesting and thoughtful piece. Not identifying ourselves with our illness is so important, as you have shown. As you mentioned, a person may be suffering from a mental illness, and it may impact their life considerably, but that illness does not define who that person is. It is a part of them, but it does not define them. You put it so well when you wrote that “my mental health problems are just a small part of me and I have many other qualities.” And that is the point. A person may be suffering from a mental illness, but there is so much more to that person than their illness.
A lovely piece, many thanks.
Sean @EuclidPi7