In finding language that resonates with our unique personalities, we must be careful not to throw out helpful principles just because they’re stated in a disengaging manner. There might be catch phrases used in our culture from which we recoil, but we need to peel back our resistance to these words so that we can understand the core principle that those who are encouraging us are attempting to communicate.

There are a lot of phrases and quotes that feel annoying because they give the sense of being ‘too good to be true,’ or too sweet and nice for real life. However in most cases, the heart of the encouragement is to remind us that the renewing of the mind takes time, so we need to be willing to act in ways that feel contrary to who we’ve been, but are in agreement with who we are becoming.

Once we understand a core principle, we can rephrase it so that it becomes meaningful to us personally. We want to mean what we say, but for our own growth and inspiration, it’s even more important that we learn to say what we mean.