Imagine living in a world where you have the capabilities to not only control your own thoughts, but to control the thoughts of those around you. Some may claim that “It’s impossible to control someone” which is entirely true physically, but metaphorically, this idea becomes a whole different ball game. Using the language of metaphors, you possess an entirely new set of abilities with the English language. You may simply use metaphors to compare two objects to one another or to something totally different, yet you also have the ability to completely alter someone’s perception on a specific topic for the rest of their life. Metaphors offer us a world of tools that we can establish through our vocals, hands, body, and mind. The most interesting aspect of metaphors that I find is how often we use them, yet how often we forget to use them when it matters the most such as a persuasive essay or a debate. Writers around the world frequently incorporate metaphors into their papers or novels to offer a rollercoaster ride of their topic and still we read their words, try to make our best perception of them but fail to interpret and understand their true meaning and continue on to the next chapter. I’m nearly certain, the metaphor assimilated into that last sentence was missed as well. This is the problem with those of us who read and communicate worldwide which is the simple statement that we’re missing out on the bigger picture. We’ll spend hours reading a book or talking to a friend, but in the end, how much have we actually gotten out of that reading or discussion and do we have the memory to be able to retain it down the road? Did we visualize the text and be able to generate a response? Did we absorb the words our friend delivered and did they intake our own input? The best way to approach this issue is to find the metaphor. That said, take a moment to slow down the pace, reread the text, and document important compelling points that could invoke a response. When communication with someone, listen to them rather than thinking about what you have to say next. Metaphors give us the opportunity to stay fully engaged with our reading and communications to completely gain the maximum understanding of whatever topic you’re on. These metaphors are a gift that we need to unpack slowly by carefully unwrapping them rather than going straight through the packaging and damaging that gift that will quickly be forgotten unless fixed by re-reading or asking questions when communicating. As soon as we have the capability to recognize these metaphors around us to be able to interpret and reuse them, we’ll then be able to turn the tides to shape our own world around metaphors. We not only have the ability to better understand those around us, but we have the ability to change those surroundings forever simply through the power of the metaphor.

 

          Metaphors are a wonderful tool in which we can use to generate a world of new ideas and perceptions about any topic out there. They help us simplify society by assigning certain aspects into certain categories. All pets are fun but all jobs are bad. We use metaphors far more often then we think and more frequently do we read about them. Authors and writers use the power of the metaphor to generate a list of ideas that connect characters to certain categories which sways the readers opinion on their thoughts on certain characters. We as humans come up with metaphors on the daily and continue to create new ideas to give each other new perceptions on aspects of life. However, metaphors aren’t all positive. Some may ask, “What are the downsides to metaphors?” And although I would love to respond to that with, “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me” unfortunately, words often have a greater pain that goes far more in depth than simply a cut on the wrist. When we’re in difficult situations, metaphors only seem to knock us down even more instead of picking us up and giving us the outlook on life that we need to see. Sometimes, we assume that what we say to attempt to cheer someone up is actually bringing them down and because of the metaphor, we are no longer in control of what we say, because even if something may be false, it also happens to be metaphorically true. Therefore, it’s nearly impossible to get every single person off board with associating two negative ideas against someone. The metaphorical dictionary will always work against the English dictionary of the way we think because essentially, everything works in reverse. Anyone who’s ever been in a difficult situation, specifically the hospital, understands that they have a way or multiple ways of trying to look at that idea to push through it, although the world around us who may view it in an entirely different manner, wish to alter our outlook and change the way we feel. This may have no physical impact, but mentally, there’s almost no climb out of that hole. It’s simply like being in an argument where you have one idea about a topic, but the people around you all view it differently and because of a certain “metaphorical rule”, they are no longer willing to cooperate to suit the best of your needs. Anyone who’s ever dealt with health issues or know someone who’s dealt with this type of hardship must take action in order to better our lives as well as those around us. The only way to pursue and achieve this goal of trying to restore our mental health through the use of language is to recognize how often we use metaphors, understand their power with how they change our perspectives, and realize that even the brightest people in the world such as medical professionals have to change their language.