Careful is a word that in my opinion isn't used appropriately in the english language. I think careful is sometimes confused with cautious.. as in, be careful you don't fall rather than be cautious you don't trip and take out an eye... with those really sharp and evil looking scissors. Just imagine if everyone on the face of the planet took a few seconds every day to think about how they could be careful and how much better the world would be because of it. After all, if people had been careful instead of cautious we wouldn't have wars or oil spills or even sunburns. It takes far less effort to cradle something and walk than to grasp something and run. Trust is as much a part of it as anything else I suppose.
Careful is something that over the last 6 years I've had to grow into. Be careful with thoughts, be careful with what you say, be careful with intentions, be careful with hearts... even be careful with myself. And in saying careful I don't necessarily mean with giant, foam kids gloves. More in regards to handling a situation in a way that not only I am happy with, but also in a way that doesn't hurt anyone else.
Life is funny that way. But I believe, deep down, that if somebody is a good person, with a good soul and good intentions and a good heart.... that the universe balances things out. After all, you can climb a hill by taking your time and being careful not to trip rather than being so cautious of the fall that you don't even try.
You know what word misuse, although perhaps not as useful for making profound contrast and comparison statements, pisses me off... noxious vs nauseated.
ReplyDeleteIf a person says "I feel noxious", I tend to agree with them and state "yes you are a noxious substance". The proper word to use in this situation is nauseated; for, if you feel nauseated you are indicating you feel sick.
This has become such a problem that dictionary organizations, due to the extremely common misuse use of noxious, have stated they will be assigning the adding the definition for nauseated under the word noxious'.
Again, my pet peeve may not be useful for making profound statements, as your careful vs cautious; yet, it still pisses me off.
Anthony