Words are Powerful

Words are powerful and shape you and your destiny.

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.

This chain of events begins with a thought but our thoughts are more than likely shaped by the words that we have heard over the course of our lives. 

We are all inter-connected in this world and are apart of the past present and future. Your today is shaped by yesterday and what happens today will shape your  tomorrow. We must remember that we are linked to people, places, events, time and words.

Words have life and creative power.  One word can change your life. It can propel you forward or hold you back, it can distract you or motivate you. Rarely do we take the time to see how words have affected us and our journey.

“Words are things. You must be careful, careful about calling people out of their names. Some day we’ll be able to measure the power of words. I think they are things. They get on the walls. They get in your wallpaper. They get in your rugs, in your upholstery, and your clothes, and finally in to you.” Maya Angelou

In my childhood there were many words that I heard loudly and for some reason the negative words seemed to be more pronounced than the positive ones. Words like skinny , tall, stubborn, dreamer, are all great words but add the thoughts and intent behind those words from the sender and it would be years before I would be able to unstick myself from the affects that they had created. I would have to put the truth of those words in a new context and say them to myself again with confidence that being tall  and thin or having perseverance and creative thought patterns was a good part of who God had made me to be and that if I changed my thoughts around those words then they would create something different in my life.

In the book of Proverbs in the Bible it is full of wisdom and knowledge about words and their power.

Proverbs 16:24   Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

Emma was a beautiful girl but that wasn’t the word that people would use to describe her. Due to being born 3 months prematurely Emma had a very tiny frame and everyone chose to call her by what was most pronounced about her, they called her small, short, tiny, little or even petite. If Emma could have only recorded how many times people would look at her in the course of her 11 years and say in such a surprised and negative tone “ my how tiny she is” or “you haven’t  grown much” or even hurtful whispers and snickers behind her back like “ she looks like a munchkin”.  Despite this inside Emma was another force that needed to be reckoned with,  the words of her father every day telling Emma how much of a fighter she was and he would even call her “ my big girl” as a term of endearment. He was focused on her growth not just in the physical but like all good parents do, he acknowledged her growth in every area and Emma was a giant in so many ways. Due to the difficulties she faced so early on and all the love poured on her to grow , Emma was an affectionate, caring, smart individual who fought for every lost cause and championed every under dog.  One day her 5^th grade teacher asked Emma what was her secret , what kept her so positive everyday when everyone around her thought she couldn’t do much. Emma so wise beyond her years replied with this metaphor  “ I have two bags of words that I carry with me everyday . One is very heavy and weighs me down and the other is light and almost floats away if I don’t hold it carefully. Meditating on this and feeling sorry for this little girl the teacher said to Emma “ Sweetie you don’t need to carry around all those heavy negative words in that bag everyday, you can put it down”  Emma looked with the largest grin on her face and said to the older woman with such tender sensitivity “ The heavy bag isn’t the negative words, it’s the happy positive words that keep me grounded everyday” The light bag of words  is the one that I release every night when I pray to God asking Him to take them away”.

This story reminds us that we have the power over the words that come at us. We get to decide and choose what affect they will have on us.

Words can be spoken or written, words can teach you, reach you communicate feeling and emotion, words can build or break down , cause life or death, words can bring you closer or farther from your desired goal,  words can be conversational,  words can be directional, they can be inspiring or cause confusion, words are powerful.

So please let your words be few and intentional- choose your words that you say wisely. Think about what you are about to say and don’t let your words escape from your mouth. Not every thought that we have should be given life by breathing them into the atmosphere for all to hear and for the creative force of the universe to direct.

excerpt from Live Move and Be  by Charmaine Hinds