‘Shall’ and ‘I’, two little words that can change your life

What do you want to discuss?

No, what do YOU want to discuss, God?

What’s on your mind.

Was that your answer, or was it a question?

Both. I’m telling you that I want to discuss whatever is on your mind, and I’m also asking you a question, what’s on your mind this morning?

A whole bunch of things that woke me up too early, and, frankly, don’t really deserve discussion.

Good, so, underneath them, what are the things that are really on your mind?

Well, there’s that house, whether we should buy it, what we should do with our money, and I’m wondering about my books – should we market them more at the moment…?

And, what do you think you can hear me saying?

Well… I think you’re saying that there are too many things to worry and ask questions about, that much more important than questions like ‘shall I?’ are statements like ‘I shall’.

Yes, that’s what I’m saying. Can you see, it’s just a matter of changing the order of the words. Two little words, ‘Shall’ and ‘I’. Not big words, but when you switch the order around they take on completely different meanings. Big meanings. ‘Shall I’?’ and ‘I Shall!’ 

Word plays? Is this really worth discussion?

Yes. The order you say those two little words in will change your entire life. I mean that.

Honestly??

Honestly. The more you tell yourself that you will do this or that, and the less you wonder whether you should, the more you will achieve and the less you will worry. The focus is on achieving more. Doing away with worry is secondary, achieving objectives is the focus, but left unchecked, worry can prevent you from achieving anything worthwhile.

So, what about asking you questions, seeking your direction, that sort of thing, should I stop that?

Not at all. But I would like to hear more about what you intend to do and why – and less questions about what you should do. 

Why? 

Because saying ‘I shall!’ will take you a lot further than asking, ‘Shall I?’ 

What about direction from you though?

I’m getting to that, there is a time for both, but ‘I shall’ needs to come out of your mouth more often than it does now. Experiment with it. You’ll find you like it. Changing the order of those two words changes everything. I can do a lot more for people who tell me their plans and ask for my input, than for those who want me to plan for them. 

That’s a bit dangerous.

Life is.

Ok, this morning, shall I just plan the day and get on with it?

What’s a better way to say that? 

Ok, mmm, I’m going to plan the day now and get on with it. You cool with that?

Absolutely!