Ten cliché phrases that can hurt

Keeping healthy and positive beliefs about ourselves and our surroundings helps us get up every day ready to engage with our lives – but some clichés keep us from searching for things that make us successful and happy. Be careful about using these as an excuse for not getting off your butt and improving your life. Remember, words have an impact on us whether spoken or thought.

10. Time heals all wounds. Although time is a necessary part of healing, it is important to remember that healing also involves working. Good or bad things don’t happen overnight. Get off the couch and figure out ways that you can improve the situations that have caused you turmoil.

9. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Sure you can! It doesn’t matter how old the dog is – learning happens throughout our lives. Habits can take time to break or change, but the sooner you begin the process, the sooner it can become replaced with something different.

8. Take the easy way out. Although this might be a logical way to think, the easy way is not always the most fulfilling way to reach a desired outcome. You may want to look at the most logical solution instead of the easiest. Be careful about thinking about ways you can get out of putting effort into doing something. It can make us lazy.

7. A good man is hard to find. Not necessarily true, but “a hard man is good to find.” There are some amazing people out there. The biggest trick is to recognize them when they’re in front of you. Open your eyes, because there are amazing people all around.

6. Better safe than sorry. Sometimes playing it safe keeps us from trying something that we’re afraid we won’t do well. Some of the greatest accomplishments have been after we have fallen down a few times.

5. Life’s a bitch. Isn’t it better to think that life can just be difficult at times? This way of thinking can keep us from looking beyond how cranky we feel about some craptastic situations in our lives. Life is really an amazing gift. Puppies are cute. Tiramisu tastes incredible. Free will is awesome!

4. You can’t fit a square peg in a round hole. Although this is true, there are some holes that are really fun to stretch out. Many times people think that it is just way too big and couldn’t fit in that snug hole, but somehow with the right angle and perseverance, we get it in. There are ways to make almost any circumstance work out.

3. The best things in life are free. Of course some of them are free while others come at a great price. For those things that take time, effort, compromise, sweat and discomfort, the payoffs can be quite amazing. Expecting things to be free or easy can make us feel entitled to receive more than we deserve.

2. Love is blind. This is a statement that assumes that you won’t see concerning behaviors in your partner when you’re in love. You can see the approaching train. Listen for the chugging and look ahead. It’s important to be aware and acknowledge that little voice in your head. We often see it coming, but hope that it is going to change.

1. It is what it is. This is what people say about situations that they feel are out of their control. Not only does this reinforce that you are powerless and have to take it in the ass (in a bad way), but also that things will continue to be bad until they spontaneously turn on their own and get better. Try to find ways to decrease the negative impact on the things we can’t change and focus on all the other things we can impact positively.