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Your Mental Health Nugget
The Power of Thoughts and Words
| There is much evidence to support the idea that our thoughts and words are very
powerful and go to make up our world reality.
'With our thoughts we make our world' - Gautama the Buddha.
'Energy follows thought' - Annie Besant - Thought Power: Its Control and
Culture (1903/1979).
'We become what we behold' - William Blake.
'Man creates his own disharmony'- Hasrat Inyayat Khan.
With the above in mind let's take a closer look at some of the words we use
and the deeper meaning of these.
We might begin with a phrase that is frequently heard when you state something to someone. This is, 'yes but.' This is their way of negating the opinion or idea that you
have expressed. Listen to yourself as you speak. Do you use this? It is a
communication blocker. One option is to acknowledge what he or she says
AND just stating your own opinion with the use of 'yes and' instead. This will improve
the energy of the communication. It acknowledges the person's point of view as
valid for them. And it keeps the flow of the conversation in place.
There are empowering and disempowering words that most of us use a lot of the time. For instance 'got to', 'have to' and 'must' usually denote a feeling of no choice. Again, listen to your self talk and the speech of others to get a sense of what is going on at an inner level.
'Should' is a good one to be aware of, as there is usually some feelings of guilt behind
it. Do you ever find yourself saying, 'I should go and do xyz'? At the back of this is the idea that if I do not I will feel bad.
We also have never, forever and always. These come under the heading of gross generalizations. The first thing that can be stated is they are generally 'never' true all the time. For example; 'She always gets that look on her face when I come home late' and 'you never buy me anything nice any more.' These statements are reflecting the
perception of the person generalizing, not the reality of the matter. Again, use
awareness with regard to what is going on in any given communication situation.
The word 'try' is another interesting little word. You may have seen a demonstration of this when someone is asked to try to pick up a pen. You do not 'try' to do something. You either do it or you don't. Another example would be if you ask someone to do something for you and they reply that they 'will try' to do whatever it is you have asked. You can be pretty sure with that sort of comeback your request will not be honored.
Be aware of what words and phrases you use. You will be surprised and delighted at
what a difference changing your words can have on your communication with others and your life in general. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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Quotes To Ponder:
Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong. - Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919
The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future. - Stephen Ambrose, 1936-2002
The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase; if you pursue happiness you'll never find it. - C. P. Snow, 1905-1 980
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