Word about words

One of my previous hubs insisted on the thought "Your thoughts become things". This hub lets you know how? Your thoughts come out as words. Like your thoughts, your words too are powerful. They say that

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

Quite simply, what you say is the single biggest factor that determines your happiness. A word is a living organism, capable of growing, changing, spreading and influencing the world in many ways, directly and indirectly through others. From the very beginning when the first words were uttered, the ability to communicate has played an important role in our world. Whether within our own thoughts, spoken or written, words have the power to transform the world we live in.

Each word that we speak has power in it and that’s why we have to watch our words. Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind. Words are read not only as group of characters, but as thoughts or emotions, the real power of words can help, inspire, encourage and motivate us. Love, laughter, heroism, friendship, and virtually every emotion we feel as human beings can be inspired by words. Unfortunately fear, anger, and hatred, can also be invoked by words. Verbal insults, verbal abuse, and the power of words to affect your emotions and actions are well demonstrated in science. For example, scientists have found that just hearing sentences about elderly people led research subjects to walk more slowly. In other research, individuals read words of 'loving kindness' showed increases in self-compassion, improved mood, and reduced anxiety. But words are not attended to equally by all.

Studies reveal that we place our attention toward words differently depending on our own biological or personality traits. Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so he is. An American novelist rightly says “words, so innocent and powerless…when standing in a dictionary, how potent for good or evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” Words from a poet is a treat, first words from a baby is a joy, but how about the words in a heated discussion? As human beings who feel a great deal, it’s not always easy for us to censor ourselves in the heat of a moment or when physical pain is involved. But, here’s something to try the next time you are in a heated discussion with a loved one or involved in a meeting that causes you some stress

• If you feel the urge to blurt something out, pause and take a deep breath
• In your mind, recite this simple thought: “I know that there is a wonderful being in each of us, and I want to see it in you and I want you to see it in me”
• Take another deep breath

From here, you can go a step further and examine any negative speech patterns you may have and develop alternative phrases that have a more positive impact. It may be as simple as not using the word “stupid” in reference to yourself or anyone around you. Keep in mind that covering your emotions with “happy” words or suppressing your feelings in any way will not make your troubles miraculously disappear. But change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change. All of which contribute, in the long run, to a healthier you. 

In the book “The Hidden messages in Water”, Dr.Emoto reveals his personal, scientific study into the relationship between words, thoughts, music and pictures, and the health and harmony of water at the molecular level. Dr.Emoto conducted several experiments such as his infamous photography exhibit where he took several bottles of distilled water and taped different words to them. Leaving the words taped to the bottles and, at times, having the word read aloud to the water produced an amazing reaction in the water. After photographing molecules of the water, he discovered that positive words like “love” and “thank you” produced delicate and beautiful formations, while negative words like “you fool” and “I hate you” produced violent, scattered images. This shows that words really have power and we have to handle them carefully. Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill. Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are endless. So choose your words correctly. The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. A Spanish proverb says “Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence.” That means silence is more powerful than speech. The most precious things in speech are the pauses. So let me now give a pause to resume after a while to reveal the power of silence in my next hub! Till then play safe with your words!