I have heard many people use it. Recently I was having coffee in Willow Glen and I overheard someone say they were bad for eating something. Or sometimes we say we are eating something bad. For example, “I was bad because I ate four pieces of pizza.” or “I ordered a sandwich and was bad because I got fries.” The use of the word bad gets no reaction. Most of us just shrug and say nothing. Some people even like it when you are bad. Some people even think bad is good. So it really doesn’t have an impact. It really doesn’t matter. Think about it? Is there something you ate today, that you would consider “bad”? Or HOW MUCH you ate, would you consider it bad? If there is, try this exercise, say it out loud. “I was bad because I ate a half dozen cookies.” “I was bad because I ate my chips with my sandwich.” Or whatever . . . . just say it out loud.
What if instead of saying “bad” we identified it a little more clearly? What if instead of saying “bad” we said “unhealthy”? I keep hear “health” lately, so what if we actually said, “unhealthy”? Do you think that would make a difference? Do you think if we actually used a word that is a little more clear and can actually be associated with a huge topic right now, that we might actually NOT eat that unhealthy food item or that extra unhealthy portion?
Do you think people might actually pause and think, “Yeah, that is unhealthy, maybe I won’t.” Instead of giggling because you were “bad”?
Now instead of saying “bad” as you did previously, say, “unhealthy“. “I was unhealthy because I ate a half dozen cookies.” “I was unhealthy because I ate my chips with my sandwich.” If we start saying it differently do you think we might start eating differently?
Maybe the same can go for working out. Haven’t you heard someone say, “I was bad because I didn’t workout.” What if we started saying, “I was unhealthy today, because I didn’t workout.” I’m just wondering if changing how we say it might help us change and care about our health.
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