Ever wonder who THEY are? THEY seem to be everywhere. THEY must be a big and powerful group with a great deal of influence, because we sure do talk about them a lot:
“They should know better!”
“That’s their problem!"
“They need to do something about this!”
“It’s all because of them!”
“They’re the ones who fouled things up!”
No need to ask if those sound familiar. Who among us hasn’t pointed a finger at THEM before? “They” and “them” are common pronouns – part of normal, everyday speech. We utter them all the time. And when it comes to building good character and walking the talk, they may be the absolute worst words in our language. Why? Just look at what “they” and “them” mean: OTHER PEOPLE, SOMEONE ELSE. You don’t have to be a genius to know that those words are dripping with non-responsibility.
Maybe it’s time we all did some word switching. Imagine what would happen – think of how our perspectives might change – if we stopped using “they,” “them,” and “their” altogether, and instead used “we,” “us,” and “our.”
Let’s see:
“THEY WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!”
“THAT’S THEIR OUR PROBLEM!”
“IT’S UP TO THEM US!”
“THEY WE NEED TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT!”
See and feel the difference?
So, the next time you catch yourself starting to say or think the T-word (“they”), use “we” instead. After all, the first step in meeting our responsibilities as adults is acknowledging that we have them. You know, pointing the finger at them probably is a waste of time, anyway. We’re beginning to think they don’t exist. Because…
Every time we’ve gone looking for “them,” all we’ve found is US!
