Can we ditch this word?

Does anyone else really dislike the word “just”?  Cause I do. I am working hard to rid myself of uttering it.

I became a published author in early February. People know about it. I have been posting about it. People text//say//comment “you wrote a book!!” And my response a few times has been, I just wrote 1 chapter in a book.

This week, I was talking to a friend about the chapter. I told her I was excited about it and then I told her, I am trying to be intentional with now responding to the compliments with “it’s just one chapter”. She responded with “It is published! And I know how hard you worked to get it done!” In which I responded with, “Yes! I mean I did actually go through a lot of work to have the experience to write the chapter. To have enough experience to do so.”

So I got to thinking about that pretty deep this week. Writing a chapter in a book is fucking awesome. To have enough to say to write a chapter means I had to do SOMETHING worth telling people. I went through a lot in the last 5 years of learning real estate, buying properties, then eventually getting into short term rentals (Airbnb’s//VRBO’s). I worked my ass off to get to here, to even be invited to write a chapter.

This brings me to why I am swearing off this damn word. IT’S NOT JUST A CHAPTER! I built this thing worth talking about and I am so proud that I was picked to tell my story. The word JUST has no place in my story. The word JUST has no place in YOUR story! Why do we keep minimizing things we do by using this adjective?! When I think of my family and friends and community. They didn’t JUST raise me or support me. They didn’t JUST buy 5 houses to flip. They do not JUST own 2 or 10 houses that they rent out on Airbnb + VRBO. They are not JUST a stay at home mom.

We continuously minimize our efforts by using this word to describe the things we do. When we should be proud of the things we do because we had to do other things to even get to where we are. Even if some of those things are as simple as waking up and brushing our teeth. Calling the person back. Signing up for something. Showing up to things. Getting through the day with a little human in the house. So. Many. Things.

I really don’t love this word. It holds SO much power when we are continually telling ourselves, I just did this or that. We are telling ourselves it’s not enough. Or we are judging ourselves in ways that aren’t healthy. I’d like to live a life where I don’t automatically say just when talking about my own accomplishments as well as anyone I meet’s life choices.

Does anyone else do this?