How Often Do You Use The “I” Word

When we talk, or when we write articles, the number of times that we use the word "I" can indicate the level of confusion we might have in our minds about ourselves. This wouldn't ordinarily be a problem if we are not attached to ourselves emotionally, and only use the term conventionally; however, when we home in on only our personal problems and ourselves and feel emotional about them, we may set ourselves up for the opposite of happiness, which is stress.

The "I" which we speak about and write about doesn't exist; that's the fundamental problem, and when we promote something that doesn't exist in the first place, we run into the knarly problem of legitimacy. How can we be genuine about anything when the prime mover in our lives; ourselves, doesn't exist? If we believe in ourselves as an authentic entity, we can't help but begin everything we do from a shaky foundation. In other words; what we do will be self-serving and not for the benefit of others.

When we only serve ourselves, we miss the only true happiness, which is giving to others. We can never logically give to ourselves because there are not two people in our heads - one who gives and one who receives – which would be like a split personality! As matter of fact, there isn't even one person. All there is in our heads are thoughts and memories from which a self or the idea of "I" is created. This is the joke on us; the hilarity that constructs an ego!

So count the"I"s in your articles and in your conversations. If you cannot intelligibly converse or write without a bunch of "I"s dotting the landscape, then you may be in trouble! For example, this article contains no "I" s, with the exception of the "I"s used as examples. This means that the article includes others and is inclusive rather than exclusive as indicated by the words "we,' or "us." It also means that the article probably tries to help us understand something, rather than complain, carp, whine, grumble, nit-pick, find fault, criticize, defend ourselves, or nag! Or confess!

When we control our use of the "I" word, or the "me" or the "mine" words, we naturally consider others more seriously. We can't help but do that because without the "I" word, we have nothing really to talk about, except others. When we talk about others, however, we must also be careful in using the "he" or "she" word, for example; "She is a hateful person!" If you use either "we" or "us" instead of "he" or "she," then it becomes, "We are hateful people!" Then there is a tendency not to point fingers so sharply at "them," which can be another dicey word! Hey. I better go back and check my old articles!

OH NO! I just used the "I" word. Oh no, I just did it again. And again! Boy, it's like eating peanuts!