Stating the Obvious

My friend Tracey McBride apologized in a comment for “stating the obvious.” I was going to comment back, but I could feel a blog post growing within me.

Stating the obvious. We do it all the time. In fact, I don’t think you would want to stop stating the obvious or having others state it to you.

I love you. Now, unless it’s the first time that someone says it to you, that should be darn obvious. Pierre says he loves me several times a day. Well, gee, no kidding! He treats me as though some angel from heaven presented him with a Marie-gift. If what he feels isn’t love, then I’m quite happy to settle for whatever it is, because it’s wonderful. I tell him often how gorgeous and sexy he is. Well, anyone with eyes can see that. The man is smokin’ hot. It’s just …. so obvious.

Your thoughts are important. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Oh, it’s so completely true and obvious, and how often do we just gloss over it? We don’t act as though we believe it, and so it’s quite valid to remind people. We ARE what we think. We TALK about what we are. We DO what we talk about. And from that thinking, being, talking, and acting come the events which WE have created in our lives. It’s obvious. It’s there.

Last year, in the UK, police were ridiculed for stating the obvious. They posted signs which said, quite simply, “Don’t commit crime. All fuel must be paid for.” Well, of course, we laugh, but it’s true.

The truth is that stating the obvious is an integral part of life. Did you know what the Socratic method consists of stating the obvious and then asking your student whether or not a series of questions follow logically from that statement? If you think about it, the Bible states the obvious many times. Don’t have sex with your sister or your mother. (Really? Someone need a law to tell them that?) Don’t kill people. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. God loves you. Treat people nicely.

How about these very obvious statements: Live within your means. Debt is not wealth. Child abuse is bad. (Well, people abuse is bad, but you get the idea.) Drive according to weather conditions. You’d think people wouldn’t need to be told that they shouldn’t spend money they don’t have, hit people who can’t defend themselves, or drive fast in a blizzard. But they do. Some people in West Virginia felt it necessary to create a law stating that only babies can ride in baby carriages. In Kentucky, you must, by law, take a bath once a year. In Alabama, you can’t drive a vehicle while blindfolded. In Toronto, you can’t drag a dead horse down Yonge St., although that only applies on Sundays. At some point, someone thought that it was very important to state these very important things.

There is not a blessed thing wrong with stating the obvious, especially when it’s a dear friend reminding me that what I focus on grows. So in the interest of that, here are a few more obvious statements that I hope you will join me in repeating and re-affirming:

I affirm that I think only of the best, work for the best, and expect the best.

I affirm that I will state the obvious, when it is good, true, wholesome and uplifting, knowing that we all need to hear it.

I affirm that I can always improve any solution – even if all I can improve is my attitude.

I affirm that I am wonderful just as I am. (And so are you.)

By the way, you’re awesome. I know, I know … I’m stating the obvious.