Taking Ownership

I've always seen taking ownership of something to be beneficial. It makes it mean more to me and treat it with more respect. It causes me to take more responsibility for the processes and the outcomes. I was told Thursday that when I say "my assistant" it makes me sound like I am trying to be better than others. I was told that the assistant is the assistant for the program, for the company, not for me. I am supposed to say "the assistant" and "the program". This is going to be a major undertaking. We all say, my job, my desk, my caseload, my boss, etc. and saying my assistant or my program is a natural extention of that language. I caught myself saying my assistant the other say after recieving this information and I corrected myself. Afterward a co-worker said "good because you sounded like you were getting a little to big for your britches". I'm honestly pretty much pissed off right now because anyone that knows me knows I am probably one of the least conceited people you could ever meet. To me, we are each gifted with the giftings God wanted us to have and we are each special in our own way. That people I have worked with for years could actually think that about me and go to my boss about it is quite irritating. My fear is that I will now be so afraid of what might come out of my mouth that I will stop talking to people as openly as I always have and now I will really seem conceited. I have been stabbed in the back more times in the last month than I have probably in the last 10 years. I really feel like my boss should not have encouraged my peers to complain about such petty concerns. I fear that as a nation, we are creating a culture of whiners who have no backbone. I have put up with people ACTUALLY being rude to me for years and have said nothing, but my choice between the words "my" and "the" seem to have become a major issue in the minds of some people. Don't get me wrong, I am still happy for "the" new position and new opportunity, but having to walk on eggshells over such a trivial thing is quite a burden when I have lots of big things to worry about.