Every six months as part of my MS treatment, I have an infusion of Ocrevus. It’s the newest drug to treat Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. As new as it is, scientists and doctors will tell you that you need it. They say it can stop the progression of the disease and limit attacks. The only way to measure the drug’s success is through MRI’s to look at your lesions to see if there is any activity or any newones. Also done every six months, my MRI showed nothing had changed.
I am stable, and when I hear that I am amazed―I mean in the true definition. Which brings me to something I’d like to share with you today.
The nurse who administered my infusion was really a pleasant person.
She asked me a number of times if I was feeling ok or if I needed
anything. When it was over she said to me, “You did amazing!”
The dictionary meaning of amazing is to affect with great wonder &
astonishment. So, did I really do amazing? Was she really amazed? I’m
not sure. I don’t think my infusion affected the nurse with great wonder
or astonishment. It was a strange pick – you know, of all the words to
choose from. Why didn’t she say, “You tolerated this well?” That’s really
what I did. Or “You didn’t complain” which means to express feelings of pain or
dissatisfaction. Let’s face it—we don’t use our own English language in
the right way.
But back to the word amazing. It has become increasingly
popular. When you hear politicians speak, they tell you they have
amazing ideas. When an actor or singer accepts an award, they say they
feel amazing. When you hear someone describe something beautiful,
they will say it looks amazing. Do these things really affect us with
wonder and astonishment? If so, the politician’s amazing ideas translate
to “they have great wonder?” Is he wondering if they’ll work? Maybe,
but wouldn’t it be better for the politician to actually describe the ideas
as they are rather than amazing? Then there’s the actress that accepts
the award―is she astonished that she won? Like she wasn’t expecting
to, she wondered? I just think the actress would have been more suited
to say it was mind-blowing―meaning intensely affecting the mind and
emotions. Or when expressing feelings, use of the words emotion and
affect would be more in tune. And lastly, if it’s beautiful, it must be
amazing, right? Why can’t beautiful things remain beautiful, not
necessarily amazing.
I’m to the point where I just hate to hear anyone use it. Everything is
not always amazing. As a matter of fact, the use of the word for me
means I have truly experienced something that astonished me―filled
me with wonder, as the definition says. I just don’t like that amazing has
become overused. Maybe if it wasn’t, I would feel differently. The word
just seems to have lost its luster and its impact.
I challenge each of you to keep a log for day, marking down how many
times someone says the word. I did it one day before I sat down to
write this…you know, because I don’t have much to do these days.
Since I was going to my grandson’s birthday party, it was a great time
for my observations. I’d say there were 30 people there. I didn’t do a
great job of counting how many times I heard the expression once I got to 20, but it was in excess of that and the party only lasted two hours.
So, when I hear people say, “it’s amazing, even though it doesn’t
usually apply, I just say, “Yes, it’s amazing.”
