Thursday 21 March 2013

Word Matters – Empower your vocabulary

“Words…. They’ve been used to make us laugh and cry. They can wound or heal! They offer us hope or devastation. With words we can make our noblest intentions felt and our deepest desires known.”* 

It is interesting to observe how certain words can trigger different emotions or actions in different people. On the other hand, an experience can reveal a different set of words to express it, depending on each person.

Why? Because each word has an emotion connected to it which is based on our beliefs; and our beliefs define how we express ourselves and the words we use. It is a circle.

Most of us are aware of the power of the words, the power that many great speakers have to influence us, to move us to action. However, many of us are not conscious of our own power using words.

How do you place your words?

Think how the same message given in a different wording can change completely the emotional energy connected to it. It is for this reason that words directly influence how the spoken message is perceived.

It is clear that some words can lead to uplifting and empowering sensations, while others just cause the opposite. It all depends on the emotions “we” attached to them. And I say “we” because the emotions we attach to words are directly related to our culture, our values, our beliefs.

Some words might be ‘neutral’ to certain people, not transmitting any special and/or strong emotions, while to other people they could be even offensive. And, this can become quite tricky sometimes in the ‘globalised world’ we currently live in.

The way we express says a lot about ourselves. The words we choose to express our thoughts, tells everything about us!

We all should be vigilant and use our words conscientiously. We have a huge responsibility in using them wisely. Once they are said, we can’t take them back! The emotions they carry with them will affect all persons present, and can provoke different reactions. And, if misused, they can cause wounds that are quite difficult to heal too…

To some, those misuses - which I call verbal abuses - are justified by a way to express their inner emotions. “I’m upset, I don’t care, I say what I feel the way I feel…I scream, I curse, I do what is necessary to pull it out!” 

Pulling out words to express an upsetting emotion is part of a healing process, but it should be a very personal process; throwing those words around won’t help to minimize the pain, in contrary, in most cases, only contribute to expand the ‘upsetting emotion’.

However, if we watch our emotions and choose to change the words attached to them, giving them a more positive approach, using uplifting words, I’m convinced that we can then change the emotion in the first place, and then improve our well-being altogether.

Listen to yourself, what kind of words do you use daily? Are they empowering, or disempowering? Are your comments, your feedbacks constructive? How do you see life? Does it sparkle, or is it blurring?

We can start with small changes in our daily expressions, for example, instead of saying “I hate this…” try to use “I prefer this…”. Telling someone "I have a different option about this...", has a completely different impact that saying "You are wrong!"... Besides, who holds the truth? Right and wrong depend on our personal beliefs.

Mother Theresa once said, “Don’t ask me to fight against war; ask me to fight pro peace!”

I’m convinced that we can transform our lives transforming our vocabulary. If we enrich our vocabulary with words that are motivating, uplifting, tender, compassionate, constructive, caring, loving, so on and so forth; our life experiences will be transformed.

Choose your words, empower your vocabulary and improve your life!

T

*Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within

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