"Never label yourself as a person who stutters" Whats your take on this common advice?
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"Never label yourself as a person who stutters" Whats your take on this common advice? I want to share my opinion on this. I was on a call yesterday with someone who stutters and he told me he is on a program where he cannot say the word "stutter". Everytime he stutters he must say he "slipped up" or "stumbled". The rationalization for this is "if you label the stutter, it will become one with your identity and you will not ever break free". On 1 hand.. this makes sense. But I feel it's very narrow minded thinking. I believe we should all be okay with saying we stutter and not have this impact us in a negative way.. If we are deliberately not saying the word stutter or saying we are a person who stutters.. then obviously the word "stutter" has a negative connotation to it correct? In our minds it's now something we have to avoid. It's been labeled as something bad. And the thing is, if we are trying to avoid something that is a part of us.. even though we may not be consciously saying the word "stutter".. we are still subconsciously and unconsciously feeling a negative energy whenever the "stutter" comes up. Because it's that thing we labeled as bad, something we must avoid. Our energy/thoughts are now being used to avoid. We are in a state of resistance and that will cause more blockages and interruptions in our mind, stopping the natural flow of speech.. causing more stuttering. My view on this is.. what if we can say we stutter and be okay with that? What if we don't need to avoid the stutter because we have come to terms with each outcome that stuttering can bring? We don't need to avoid anything and just radically and authentically express ourselves? In my experience that's is where the full freedom is.. that is where you can fully express yourself without inhibitions or fear or avoidance. Thus causing you to hit those stages of speaking and expressing where you are just natural and flowing without having to think about it. That's happiness in my opinion. Anything you resist persists. Let it come and don't avoid anything ❤