What's In a Word?

Having had my share of relationship faux pas during my many years of being single, I lay no claims to being a relationship expert. It's obvious that being a good judge of character is not one of my strong suits, which often left me wondering why friends called for advice.

After many of these advice-filled conversations, a thought finally occurred to me. Perhaps in lives many lessons I'd learned humility. Why judge others for unsuccessful dating choices when having made quite a few myself? In place of judgement, I chose to give an open shoulder to cry on for any friend or stranger. After all, isn't that what we're all looking for when we reach out to someone.

Then came a shift. The compassionate words that I reserved for others began transferring over to my own personal setbacks. Put simply, when life went off course, I quit emotionally beating myself up.

With this new found thinking came inner peace and a sense of personal security. What were once monumental calamities became laughable interruptions that allowed me to take that much needed break when life became too serious. Happiness filled my world, and people with like mind began entering.

In research studies it has been shown that what we think or say has great impact on how we feel. Masaru Emoto, author of The Hidden Messages in Water, spent many years photographing frozen water crystals placed in bottles wrapped with positive and negative messages. In his research, he discovered that “water has the ability to copy information”. Water with messages of love and gratitude formed beautiful hexagonal crystals, while the crystals with messages of hate and anger were malformed and fragmented.

When we stop to think that our bodies are essentially water, Emoto’s study clearly reveals how words have the ability to positively effect us or destroy us. Next time you or someone you know is having a bad day, think of the power of the word and speak kindly.

“Words are the expression of the soul.” -Masaru Emoto