It’s amazing what one little letter will do to change its meaning.
It’s amazing what this can do for your mindset as well.
Take the word ‘bitter’ meaning ‘expressing a lot of anger and hate‘.
It’s not a pleasant word but I’m guessing we’ve all experienced it.
When I was diagnosed with incurable cancer, quite apart from feeling nonplussed, overwhelmed and out of control, I also felt bitter and it was a horrible feeling to have.
I don’t like being angry but that’s how cancer made me feel and I knew that had to change pretty quickly if I was to hold onto my sanity. Not only was it cancer but I was also suffering from irritable vowel syndrome.
So I opted for a vowel change and focused on what I still had left. I made the transition from bitter to better.
Clearly, that didn’t mean I was ‘better’ from the cancer point of view but it did mean I was reclaiming my mental health.
One vowel, that’s all it takes, at least on paper that is.
The reality is, staying better and not bitter demands more of us than that. We have to work at it constantly and keep reminding ourselves to stay well mentally. This is a daily commitment to keep in the better zone and not in the bitter zone.
Having incurable cancer could make me a very bitter person and that could take over my identity. I don’t want that to happen, ever.
But it is natural to feel some bitterness creep back into my thinking if I allow it. Left unchecked, this is like coming into contact with poison ivy and your mind could develop a rash, severe swelling, blistering, or itching.
We do have a choice and even in the face of a serious illness, we can choose to heal and be better. Let your illness bring you wisdom and a sense of wellness.
You can be a better person if you want but you do have to want it. You can allow whatever has happened to you to make you angry and you can choose to dwell in that bitterness.
Or, you can shift your perspective and look at who you still are and why you can still make this world a better place with you in it.
But again, you have to pour energy into getting better. It’s hard work. Bitterness is easy because it is lazy.
Bitterness relies on you doing nothing to get better. It robs you of your potential. It covers your personality in spikes. It degrades you. It poisons you. It hurts you and others.
Don’t be a lemon, you are better than that.
But when we opt for better, we can experience genuine joy and happiness. We can feel good about ourselves and the future. We can be beacons of light and role models of positive living. We can let our spirits inspire. We can lift ourselves and others.
And by the way, this is not a toxic positive platitude. It is a powerful way of avoiding emotional freefall and oblivion.
For bitter and for worse or for better and better. It’s time to make that vowel transplant.
Change the i for an e. Better is better than bitter.