No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever made it turn into a ramp. — Stella Young
If only.
There are so many platitudes about tackling challenging situations:
- The difficult co-worker — Kill ’em with kindness!
- Learning an instrument — Just commit to 15 minutes every day!
- Finances a wreck — Buy in bulk!
- Raising children — Find ways to say Yes!
- Need to exercise more — Just get out the front door!
- Worried or depressed — Stay positive!
What platitudes leave out is the reality that hard work is still going to be required. Sometimes it’s still going to suck rocks. You’re still going to hit the wall emotionally from time to time. There are still no guarantees that it will all work out. And all the positive talk in the world isn’t going to make every situation better.
Which platitudes were you raised with? Which have you picked up along the way since leaving home? Which ones have firmly fastened themselves into your brain? Which have proved to be truly helpful? Which ones might be well-intentioned by have proven worthless to you?
How can you use platitudes to show character development (Carol’s bathroom mirror studded with faded Good Morning Gorgeous! and Just Believe! post-it notes), to set a scene (granny’s cross-stitched Let Go and Let God above the sofa), or to create a bit of well-intentioned crisis creation between characters (Mark telling Tom, An orderly desk makes for an orderly mind)?
What platitudes are you characters fighting against?
What platitudes are helpful for them?