My "What would Russell Wilson say?" mantra is in peril.

A qualifying, blah, depressing saying has taken over the planet. "It is what it is." You can't get away from it. The moment someone rants, complains, or explains something displeasing, that saying tops them off. At first I just logged who around me said it the most because that's how my brain works. Then I realized I might start saying it if I don't have a saying to combat it. Since I'm a total Seahawks girl, 12th man all the way, I came up with "What would Russell Wilson say?" How can you not feel amped with a silent retort like that? If you've ever seen a game Seattle was going to lose with only seconds left, the man can't even consider giving up. The other team is taking a knee and he still thinks there's a way to get the ball! So the saying worked enough the words stopped being a silent response to a suckie saying. I shared the awesomeness. 

Then the Seahawks tied their game against the Cardinals Sunday night. A tie is nothingness. They played until they needed medical care and didn't get real closure. And Russell showed for the first time in any press conference I've ever seen actual annoyed dissatisfaction. Oh, he's been unhappy in the past. He's claimed this and that were his fault and listed things that needed improving, but a tie was not okay to him and not anything he could work on. So he said, "It is what it is." I gasped. I couldn't very well use my counter saying then. 

Now you might think I need to lighten up. Sure. Always. But the truth of the matter is words matter. The ones you say out loud to top off trademark comments you make cement ideas and feelings into the way you view the world. You say "It is what it is," a total surrender comment and not in the Zen, life is suffering way, you're saying, what are you going to do? I can't do anything to change it." Even saying "Monkey poo" at the end of a rant is better than "It is what it is." So the next time those words slip out of your mouth, think if you said that as a kid. I had a saying when I was a kid because I was a bit angry. It was along the lines of "F*$@ 'em." That works too. What mantras do you say without realizing they're mantras?

Of course, Richard Sherman just said the crap line in his Harry Potter costume press conference and I didn't gasp or counter the words. He was dressed as Harry Potter with a wand and glasses and everything. Come on. I might just use that visual as my new mantra. Go 3-D.