I had a funny conversation today with one of my friends. There is a group of wealthy LDS guys in her Institute class who think they are really cool and cutting edge. They go around pretending to swear by saying "I'm such a bad A" and they take other swear words and just say the first letter. I laughed so hard when I heard that. They are probably thinking of the swear word anyway so it isn't much of a substitution. I'm not a big fan of alternate swear words - words that come very close to the real thing. I prefer to make up my own phrases to use when I am upset. I have been know to use phrases like "Jiminy Christmas" and "dad crumpit".
This made me start thinking about substitutions both good and bad. Now for me a good substitution might be using Splenda instead of sugar. A bad substitution would be flopping down in front of the tv when I'm bored instead of cleaning out my car.
Then there are the things we do that perhaps we shouldn't as good Latter Day Saints. I'm just throwing out examples here - this is not a confessional of things that I do. Maybe we don't watch rated R movies but we aren't as picky in our television choices as we could be. Or perhaps we don't swear but we listen to music that does or listen to catchy songs with inappropriate lyrics. Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" comes to mind as an example of this. That song is super catchy and the music at the beginning always draws you in. I finally manged to train myself to switch stations the minute I hear it. So I guess the point of this post is to encourage everyone (myself included) to really think about your choices and to watch that you aren't substituting one bad thing for another.
Amanda is going to eat a deep fried Snickers at the fair this weekend.
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3 comments:
Nice thought! I think we all do things like that a lot. (OK, so I do). BTW, never heard of a deep fried Snickers... where at the fair do you get that? I may have to go for a visit!
Deep fried Snickers.... I'll have to consider that one.
I like your thought. There are things that are socially acceptable in the LDS realm that probably shouldn't be. The ones that always get me are word of wisdom things. Please don't anyone shoot me, but how is having a coke every morning any different than having a cup of coffee every morning? Or why is it okay to eat yourself to death, just as long as it isn't a true beer belly? It all comes down to the letter of the law vs the spirit of the law- you can follow both, it isn't one or the other. I'll get off my soap box now. :)
Substitutions?? Interesting topic.
I have read that it only takes 21 days to break or add a habit. Granted, these are 21 tough days because you have to have a perfect score for it to count. For instants if you have a habit of saying an expression you want to get rid of, you have to avoid it completely for 21 days. If you say "crap" on day 20 you have to start over.
Maybe a board game could be designed to help people learn to improve by substituting a good thing for a bad thing. Game of "Substitution" anyone?
MOM
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