Do you have your auto-translate turned on?

You know, the one that takes words that people say to you and then gives them your meaning?

Your auto translate that says to you, hmmm, what did they mean by that?

You’ve probably been caught on the other end of someone else’s auto-translate – and you’ll know this because you’ll find yourself saying something like, that’s not what I meant, or that’s not how I meant it.

You see, what you hear is not always what’s being said.

In fact, many times, you’ve attributed meaning to a situation even before you’ve heard all the words.

This can be very problematic, especially if you tend to be of a defensive nature.

Your habit of giving meaning to words is deeply ingrained because you probably learned to do so at a very young age.

The environment you grew up in taught you a lot about words, but because you learned it doesn’t mean it was necessarily true. And what you learned is now very hard to unlearn.

But you can try, on occasion, to put your auto-translate on pause.

Let the words come at you, and hear them for what they are: sounds bouncing off your eardrums that you give meaning to.

Don’t forget, the next time you catch yourself saying, that’s not how I meant it; you’ll wish the person you’re speaking to would do the same for your words, too.

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, do me a favor and share it with one person you love.