If there is one thing that I have personally changed about myself over the past few years it is my stringent reduction in the use of expletives in my vernacular. You will nearly never see it in my writing or my videos, and even though there are videos of me using swears in the past (in a podcast I used to do for example) I no longer believe that is the way a man should carry himself.
Growing up playing hockey, there was seldom five minutes I could go without hearing a swear, or saying one myself.
Regrettably, I was in there like a dirty shirt - everyone else was doing it, so why shouldn’t I?
Coming back to Christianity, you come so see that the use of dirty words is a symptom of a mind that is cluttered, a heart that is clouded by the world. As we begin to purify our inner lives, this sort of language seems to just fall away.
In the past six months, I have come to find that the inner thoughts that come and go are far less shrouded in the garbage that was once so common to go through the mind. Part of this is in following a prayer rule, part of this is likely attributed to becoming a father and not wanting to subject my daughter to the use of what I would deem lower linguistic practice.
In becoming a dad, I caught myself using language that I was ashamed of, and resolved to adjusting accordingly.
So, change the language that you use, change your… life?
I think one hundred percent that is possible - and seems to be true for me.
When someone is continually swearing, they are acting on a lower, animalistic level.
When we continually swear, we are coming at life from an emotional rather than logical angle. Moreover, littering speech with obscenities is thinking on a lower, passive, and shallower level.
Inevitably, the quality of the content and the number of swear words contained within are inversely related.
The quality of music and the number of obscene topics is always in direct opposition. Classical music hardly ever contains lyrics in general, and is of the highest quality and stimulation of cognition. Mainstream Music Is Demonic - because of the obscene words and discussions that aim to push those to the masses.
I prescribe that you cease swearing for the 40 days for Lent. Resolve to give it up entirely, and see how your mind shifts.
I guarantee that you will have a grander peace of mind, a wider and more expressive vocabulary, and will sound more intelligent to those that you interact with.
As a side note, I caught myself using no expletives around old hockey friends that I would have previously been sweary-merry around, and I felt like the Ned Flanders of the group, but such is life!