“Up!” demands a child practicing a
new word and understanding its meaning. She’s
learned that upstretched arms accompanying that plea will result in being
lifted off the floor and returned to someone’s loving arms. “Up!” said the pioneers when they encountered
the Rocky Mountains and scientists repeated, looking to the sky. Our world became smaller as we settled the
continent and flew into the centuries of aeronautics and space travel. Investors want numbers to trend upwards and
each baseball season, players want their own and their team’s stats to rise. “Up!” is where believers looked and watched
as their resurrected Jesus ascended into heaven with a promise to return and
not to leave them alone in the meantime.
“Down!” cries a child at the
beginning of a pout and with lots of squirming.
It is an early
word that means the beginning of freedom and independence,
ultimately signifying ‘let me go.’
Curious then that ‘down’ is what oppressors mean when they withhold
rights. It is a word a trainer uses in
teaching a puppy proper behavior and how we describe a broken computer. ‘Down’ is the place people look when they
walk because their self-esteem is low and ‘in the dumps’ is how we feel when
the blues settle in for a visit. Dieters
hope the scale cooperates, consumers want lower prices, and bicyclists
appreciate the easier ride on the downside of the hill.
Marilyn
“In”
tells us what to wear, where to be during a storm, and what crowd we’d like to
hang with. “Out” may excite a dog but scare or hurt someone who feels excluded
or different, yet “out” is where they go to make an announcement about that
difference. “Stop” can keep us safe and “Go”
send us in new directions.
There
are myriads of one syllable words from our earliest learning stage that helped
mold us and frame our view of the world.
Take some time this week to reflect on those simple small words and the
huge impact they’ve had on your life. If
you’ve a favorite, I would hope you would “Share!”Marilyn
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