So now we have the latest, annoying phrase du jour: “it is what it is…”
This is one is getting on my last nerve. I’m hearing it from too many people, in too many instances where it’s not a reaonsable response to the situation nor it is an apt summation of what’s being discussed.
They say, “It is what it is.”
I don’t say but think, “No, it isn’t (except I usually think, “Naw, it ain’t.”)
It is what you make it.
It is what you accept.
Friends and acquaintances say this phrase with a shrug of their shoulders.
As soon as they utter the words, responsibility goes out the window, analysis takes a powder, and their acceptance and inaction take root.
This shouldn’t be.
It is what it is means
surrender.
means
victim.
means
the ball is in someone else’s court, not mine.
means
I acquiese, I accept.
It is what it is lets
me off the hook
absolves me of any part in the particulars.
I didn’t do nothin’, I can’t do nothin’, I’m not going to say a thing. I won’t engage, I won’t protest, I’m powerless, it’s not my fault…’cause
it is what it is.
I’m coming real close to loathing this phase and want to give a good shake to the people who say it ’cause it just feels so sad to see people let go, become wet noodles, and be passive.
(Although, although, sometimes, sometimes….occasionally, I, too, feel like letting go, surrendering to the way things are, succumbing to the probabilities rather than working toward the possibilities. When these feelings overtake me, I take a nap, say a prayer, have a brief pity-party or put on some good music and dance, until I feel renewed.)
It is what it is until I/we change it, alter it, upset it, topsy-turvy it, work around it, get through it…
Do It To It!