AVOID SHOULDING ON YOURSELF AND OTHERS | EMPOWER YOURSELF | MENTAL HOUSEKEEPING #5

“I should go to bed earlier,”

“I should exercise more”

“I should cut out sugar,”

“I should drink more water.”

Are you telling yourself what you “should” do all day everyday? The word “should” has become a fixture in our everyday language. It’s very normal, we all do it.

Okay, you think, you should do this and you should do that, but what do you actually want to do?

We have been taught what we “should” want, but no longer know what we actually want, and we often confuse the two.

You have imposed upon yourself an idea of what ought to happen and notice your current reality is not matching. Your current reality is not matching the idea of what reality ought to be. That creates tension. What you “should be doing” is conceptional.

The problem with “Should” is that it is packed with guilt. Should says “There is a possible reality that is better than this and it’s my fault that it’s not.”

I have always been interested in etymology of words, in their origins.

The origin of the word “should”:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/shall

Old English sceal, Northumbrian scule “I owe/he owes, will have to, ought to, must” Ground sense of the Germanic word “I owe,” hence “I ought.” The sense shifted in Middle English from a notion of “obligation” to include “futurity.” Cognates outside Germanic are Lithuanian skelėti “to be guilty,” skilti “to get into debt;” Old Prussian skallisnan “duty,” skellants “guilty.

The word “Should” comes from “Shall” or owe as in “I owe/he owes” or “ought to.” To be guilty, to get into debt”.

The language that we use for self talk and externally to others either helps us become closer or farther to self empowerment and growth. The etymology of the word “should” originates from debt, guilt, “I owe’. No wonder each time we use this word, there is an energy of debt and guilt.

To learn more watch the video.