A 7-Word Game

I decided to write out this train of thought because it sort of came rushing at me in the last twenty minutes and I wanted to follow it through.

It began with me thinking about someone who left a comment on a website: what a loser.

Then I thought to myself, What do I mean by that? What's a loser? What makes that person, by your definition, a loser? What is your definition of a "loser?"

Pretty soon this led to these questions:

If you wanted to convey some idea of "who you are" to others by choosing words to define and then providing the definitions, which words would you choose, and what would your definitions be?

Would you choose the same words for other people to define (in order to get a better idea of them)?

I decided to do my own exercise and jot down some word definitions here just to see if I would learn something about myself. If you feel like trying this and sharing your results, I'd love to hear about it - drop me a line (or a comment)!

MY WORD LIST

FRIEND - a person you can trust with your truest self, whose company you cherish, and with whom you share a reciprocal commitment to regard the details of each other's lives as things that matter

JERK - someone who has suppressed or obliterated his or her capacity for respect

LOSER - someone with no interest in learning

MATURITY - freedom from needy-ness, from thinking that everything's "about" oneself, and probably also from highly reactive anger

FAITH - an individual's way of understanding, viewing, and responding to the world and to experience

LOVE - a deliberate, steadfast, and solidarity-driven pouring of energy into recognizing, upholding, protecting, or restoring another's dignity, well-being, and/or worth

SUCCESS - peace with oneself

Whew. I don't know why I got all philosophical tonight but I had to get it out.