For most people, speaking is as natural as breathing. On many occasions our words are spoken without a conscious thought; in fact, we rarely stop to think about what we are saying. Thousands of words pour out of our mouths each day as our thoughts, opinions, judgments, and beliefs are freely expressed. However, we often don’t realize the positive or negative effect these words have on ourselves and the people around us.
Words have tremendous power. Words give energy and a message that creates a reaction in others. Everything you say produces an effect in the world. Anything you say to another person will produce some kind of effect on that person. We are constantly creating something, either positive or negative with our words.
The reaction to our words often comes back to us in multiplied form. For example, if I say judgmental words to a person, he will judge me back, probably more intensely, since his judgment is associated with the pain or anger caused by my words. Words of kindness and acceptance will generate a warm and grateful reaction in a person. That person’s response to the words will be stronger because he will have the emotion created by the accompanying words. The power of words has a ripple effect on our lives and on those around us.
I recently came across the work of Dr. Emoto and his studies on water crystals. He took water samples, froze them, and took pictures of the water crystals. He then wrote words on vials of water taken from the same source. The crystals formed in the vials that had positive words on them, such as love and gratitude, were beautiful. However, the crystals in the vials with negative words like hate and evil were very different, and the water didn’t even form crystals in some cases. Experiments were done using words from different languages, and also by scientists who had no knowledge of what the words meant. The results were similar. More information can be found by watching the movie “What The Bleep Do We Know”. Although I find the concepts of quantum physics difficult to grasp, the findings of this study on water crystals have had a profound impact on me. It is known that the human body is made up of up to ninety percent water. If words had such a significant impact on water crystals, what is the impact of positive and negative words on our bodies?
An important key to success in life is understanding the power of words. A word is an eternalized thought. Our thoughts have a great effect on us even though they are internal. What we think affects the way we live our lives, it affects our emotions, our attitudes and our behavior. A spoken thought, however, has even more power. It can never be withdrawn; it is out of our mouth and it will have an effect. Our words have even more power than our thoughts because they affect not only us, but the people and the world around us.
Successful people take control of their words, instead of letting their words control them. They are more aware of their thoughts and words and the power they unleash. Successful people understand that they need to speak positively rather than negatively in order to see success. Successful people are characterized by the words they speak. They know the importance of speaking words that build self-esteem and confidence, build relationships, and build possibilities. They speak words of affirmation, encouragement, love, acceptance, and appreciation.
In order to see more personal success, the words we say must align with what we want to happen in our lives: our vision and our dreams. Your words can determine your destiny. Even more important, your words can make a positive difference to the people you interact with every day. Before you speak, ask yourself: Is what I’m going to say going to encourage the listener? Will it inspire, motivate and build momentum for them? Will it dissolve fear and create safety and trust? Will I create a positive or negative ripple effect by speaking these words? Let us determine to unleash the power of words for positive change.
