“Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck, does it? And God help the poor bastard who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie. (Jace Wayland)”
— Cassandra Clare
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Stop trying to rename your red flags. 🚩 As Jace Wayland wisely put it: “Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck, does it? And God help the poor bastard who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie.” Sometimes, the most courageous thing you can do is see a situation for exactly what it is. Have you ever tried to rename a hard truth? Let’s discuss below. 👇
About this quote
In life, we often attempt to sugarcoat our reality to make it feel less intimidating. We encounter toxic patterns, painful truths, or dangerous situations, and in an attempt to find comfort, we try to rename them. We call a red flag a 'quirk' or a deep-seated fear a 'phase,' hoping that by changing the label, we can change the essence of the struggle. But truth is stubborn; it doesn't care about the names we give it. Just as a name cannot strip the electricity from an eel, a euphemism cannot strip the danger from a reality that isn't serving you. Real emotional growth and personal peace begin when we stop negotiating with the truth. This quote serves as a powerful reminder to look past the surface and honor the actual nature of our experiences. Embracing authenticity—both in how we see the world and how we describe our own lives—is the only way to protect our hearts from unnecessary harm. When we stop calling the 'eels' in our lives 'rubber ducks,' we finally gain the wisdom to step back and keep our peace intact.
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Photo by Ludvig Hedenborg on Pexels
