I have always been a good speller. That is not something everyone can say. Being a good speller does not mean I can win a spelling bee with the children that spell words such as feuilleton, nunatak, and gesellschaft. These are some of the winners’ final words in some of the championships. To be honest, I am not even sure what those words mean or how to pronounce them.
I attribute several things to my ability to spell. School teachers still taught phonics. Phonics teaches how to identify letters when hearing them so you can read the words. We also had weekly spelling tests in school for which I would have to study.
I was also in trouble a lot at school. I am very active and loud by nature and get bored very quickly. As a result, I spent many recess periods writing the dictionary as a punishment. While I may not have stopped being active nor have quieted down, it probably has something to do with learning how to spell.
Since I grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, we did not have spell check or auto-correct features. We had typewriters, paper, and pens. If I needed to spell something, I asked my dad. His response was always the same. “Go look it up in the dictionary.” While this never made sense to me, my phonics class helped me enough to find the word in the dictionary so I could spell it correctly.
Nowadays, everyone sends digital messages to each other. People post their thoughts on social media. However, it seems no one seems to check their spelling or grammar. Either people do not care or are just too lazy to check what they have typed. I suppose this generation relies on autocorrect to do the work for them rather than taking the time to edit their work.
There have been books written and websites devoted to the hilarious misadventures of autocorrect. People laugh at these errors in spelling as they can change the entire meaning of what is trying to be said. Some people will say it does not matter since the messages are just for fun and entertainment, but I have seen it carry over into professional emails. It only takes a minute to check your work.
While spelling and grammar may not be the most crucial aspect of life, we tend to be just as lazy or nonchalant in other areas.
We make mistakes, but we do not learn from them. We keep making the same mistakes over and over again. We expect that things will correct themselves, but how often do things get back on course if no one is steering?
Autocorrect does not work in real life. You have to make the corrections yourself. Maybe you have an issue that is hurting you professionally or socially. You are the only one that can change it, but you have to recognize the problem first.
Self-examination is important. No one is perfect. We all have flaws. We should take a step back occasionally, identify areas of our lives that need adjusting, and form a plan of action that will help guide us back on track. It is much better to do a self-correct than to have unpleasant situations do it for you.
1 Corinthians 11:28-32 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
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