Penny for your Thought
Society has naturally formulated and adopted coined phrases that are regurgitated with or without understanding the context of the phrase. For example, the phrase “meant to be.”
Is the meant to be statement used to force a person to avoid gaining understanding of a situational outcome or to relinquish needed explanation? Or a claim that is specifically engineered to point to a worldview or philosophy? I know it is more complex than an A or B answer, but for the sake of getting people to think and converse the topic, let’s stick with the simpler approach.
Before answering, think about the times in your life when you may have heard/used the statement, "meant to be.” After you reflect, ask yourself if the statement was attached to a positive or an unfortunate event and why? What did you really mean when using the coined phrase and if you were saying it to someone else, do you believe the statement held the same definition to the person you said it to?
See the quotes below that may aid in your reflective moment:
“If it was meant to be it will happen”
[Plug in unfortunate event] “It was meant to be… It will only make me stronger”
[Plug in new romance] “We were meant to be”
[Plug in break up] “We weren’t meant to be”
“If it was meant to be it was meant to be” [Plug in a desire or sense of uncertainty]
Now that you have brought those memories to the forefront of your mind, did you associate the statement, “meant to be” to cope with a situation or to accept/approve a positive accomplishment in your life?
The statement, “If it was meant to be it will happen.” How did you use this? To surrender to an uncontrollable situation or to shift responsibility for action/inaction?
The statement/scenario, [Plug in unfortunate event] “It was meant to be… It will only make me stronger.” Was this used to justify what you experienced? If so, I would like to challenge you to think about why that bad event in your life needed to happen to make you stronger when the bad situation could have been avoided and you could have grown stronger with healthier approaches. However, if you say this statement to see the positive potential of a bad situation, I commend you for keeping a positive prospective despite an unfortunate but now fortunate event.
Without going through every possible situation, our team at Thoughtful Pages came up with this topic to get readers to consider the why behind the common phrases they utilize and to identify the thoughts and ideologies they associate with the phrases that have been coined by society. We believe that raising awareness about the possibility that different ideals attached to the same phrase may mean something different to someone else. Let us spark conversations to limit miscommunication of thoughts and emotions and ultimately minimize frustration, arguments, and unfortunate events.
