The Healing Power of Words

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“If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words, we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths, our limitations and joys ..”

Thoughts are the seeds of all outcomes. The nature of our thoughts is responsible for our success and happiness and even though humans are hardwired to worry because our primal brains are protecting us from threats to our survival, we still have the innate and natural power to decide what kind of experiences we want to fill our lives and how to create our own reality. Our life is a direct reflection of our attitude combined with thoughts. The way we choose to interpret situations, determines the quality of our life and not the things themselves as the only environment we have control of is our internal one. Our beliefs serve as a filter or lens by which we interpret the world around us, they affect how we feel and often what we end up doing. Although thoughts are important, without words, a thought can never become a reality. Anything that goes through our life is first expressed in thoughts, in words, and then in actions that lead to the manifestation of our surroundings which in turn foster more thoughts, etc.

Words are just symbols that attempt to describe the physical world and abstract ideas, but they are also the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively by encouraging ourselves, or destructively by overwhelming ourselves. Words have the ability to help, to heal, or to hurt, to harm and to humiliate. Their meaning crystallizes perceptions that shape our beliefs, drive our behavior, and ultimately, create our world. Although words are powerful, they have no other meaning than the meaning we give them and the image we attach to them. For example, the announcement of an emergency might cause one person to panic and freeze and another to take courageous action, because the word emergency has different meaning to these two people. Many of the words and terms, which we habitually use, can reinforce negative stereotypes, without us even realizing, because a single negative word can increase the activity in our amygdala (the fear center of the brain). This releases dozens of stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters, which in turn interrupts our brains’ functioning. In addition, angry words send alarm messages through the brain, and they partially shut down the logic-and-reasoning centers located in the frontal lobe. When we complain about our life, speak anxiously or use hateful words, we usually do so from a place of fear. The more we hear, read, or speak a word or phrase, the more power it has over us. This is because the brain uses repetition to learn, searching for patterns and consistency as a way to make sense of the world around us. So, when we regularly use negative words, we are subconsciously and consciously planting negative thoughts in our minds. This is why it matters what we think about and ultimately what we tell ourselves.

Our words are taken literally by our minds, that’s the reason positive words of encouragement can be a key factor in surviving and overriding negative thoughts. Contrary to negative words, positive sentence structures can induce a physical response that increases strength and powers to kick-start a neural chain reaction that motivates us to succeed. Learning to use positive language or to be positive is not something you’re born with, it's a practice. Just like running or learning the guitar, being positive is a skill you get better at the more you do it. Be aware of your negative words, start eliminating their use, regain control and frame your word choices so that they have a much more positive impact on your world. Your words are the paint with which you paint your reality. Choose those words wisely and positively to create a reality that is good for you. If you would usually say something such as ‘I am a failure’ then why not turn this into a more positive, constructive statement such as ‘I am in the process of learning and every day I get closer and closer to my goal’.

We Fall. We Break. We Fail. But also, We Rise. We Heal. We Overcome.