The words we say don’t always come from who we are.
They come from where we came from.
The tone we use.
The way we apologize… or don’t.
The instinct to defend, deflect, stay silent, or speak sharp—
It’s all learned.
From childhood.
From what love sounded like.
From how conflict was handled… or avoided.
From what we heard when we made mistakes.
Our language is a reflection of our emotional inheritance.
And sometimes, we grow up speaking the dialect of distance.
Short. Sarcastic. On guard.
Sometimes, we repeat patterns we swore we’d break—
not because we mean to,
but because they’re wired into us.
But the beautiful thing about language…
is that it can evolve.
I’ve learned to soften my delivery.
To pause before reacting.
To use words that open instead of shut down.
Not because I’ve changed who I am—
but because I’m learning who I want to be.
The words we speak become the world we live in.
And we don’t have to keep echoing a version of ourselves that no longer fits.
Listen to your words.
They’ll tell you where you came from—
and where you’re ready to go next.
That’s the Cushy way.