Did you know that the words we say emit energy and that either gives us power or lessens our power?
As women, we’re taught to step back, to be more reserved, and to not shine as brightly as we should be shining every day. The language we’ve adopted feeds right into this which has sparked me to invite you to join the three day Sorry Experiment. I want all of you to be able to show up each and every day, shine your authentic light, and step into your beauty and all of your magic! I created the challenge because the truth is, saying sorry just takes away from all of those things. If the words that we choose to say guide both our thoughts and our actions (and they do!) it’s important to be careful when choosing them.
Here is the three day road map for you to follow:
Day 1: Assess The Situation
For Day 1, I want you to simply assess how many times you say, “sorry.” Maybe you’re walking in public and someone bumps into you and you say sorry. Or perhaps you’re washing your hands in the bathroom and there’s a line waiting which causes you to feel rushed, so you say sorry. Maybe someone expresses that they don’t like something, so you say sorry. Whatever it is, just note down the incident that occurred which prompted you to apologize.
Day 2: Observe Your Energy
Going back to how our words and thoughts either give us power or takes away from it, I want you to reflect on how you felt the moment after saying sorry. Here’s a personal example: One day, I was about to deboard a plane so I stood up to stretch my legs. The couple in front of me did the same, except when they stood up, they pushed me a little backwards which caused me to stand super close to the man behind me. I turned around and said something along the lines of, “I’m sorry for stepping into your bubble!” and the gentleman kindly said that I could step back if I needed to. However, the moment right after telling him I was sorry, I felt the energy in my body literally shrivel down. Once he gave me the permission to take up more space, I felt empowered. After that incident, I told myself that I was going to start catching myself with this because in all honesty, I didn’t truly feel sorry for stepping into his space. I didn’t feel remorseful or sad. Yet the words I chose made me feel smaller. So take some time to to revisit the moments you said you were sorry and reflect on how you felt afterwards.
Day 3: Choose Different Words
The more that you say something different or think a new thought, the more you’re able to authentically step into your power. Here are three common circumstances that we apologize for and words you can use instead of “sorry”!
Maybe you’ve taken a while to get back to someone by phone or email, or you took an extra day to fulfill on a request, here’s a perfect thing you can say: “Thank you so much for your patience with me while I {insert task or event}.”
Maybe you’re walking in public and you accidentally bump into someone, try saying “excuse me” or “pardon me”. There’s no reason to apologize for being in the world next to someone else!
Another common circumstance that people apologize in is when they perceive in their mind that someone doesn’t like something that they did. Instead of saying you’re sorry, how about opening up the dialogue and asking, “How did this make you feel?” or “Did you like it when I did this?”
I’d love to know how this experiment goes for you! After the three days, email me at carmen@carmenohling.com and let me know how often you apologized and what circumstances you found yourself doing that in. As always, if you need any help incorporating these new phrases into your life, just reach out and I’ll be here to help.
Wishing you a ton of light and love,
Carmen
