Can one word have power? There are many words that evoke strong emotions and compel behaviour and action, good and bad. We have all heard the saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1939). That sounds like a lot of power…here are a few similar thoughts throughout history:
“Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate, and to humble.” -Yehuda Berg
“The tongue has no bones, but is strong enough to break a heart. So be careful with your words.” –Unknown
“Raise your word, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”-Rumi
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” -Mother Teresa
“Be careful with your words. Once they are said, they can be only forgiven, not forgotten.” –Unknown
“Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts out as a sound, ends in a deed.” -Abraham Joshua Herschel
“All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
“Words are seeds that do more than blow around. They land in our hearts and not the ground. Be careful what you plant and careful what you say. You might have to eat what you planted one day.” –Unknown
There is a movie you may have heard of in 2004 called “What the Bleep Do We Know?” In this film Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Doctor of Alternative Medicine from Japan (now deceased), demonstrated the energy and power of thoughts/words on water molecules. He produced different focused intentions through written and spoken words (and music) and exposed water to them. Using a powerful microscope with high speed photography in a very cold room, he discovered that correspondingly different crystals formed in the frozen water. When loving words were “imprinted” on the water, the crystals formed complex and colourful snowflake patterns, whereas negative thoughts produced crystals that were incomplete and asymmetrical with dull colours. In one of his books, The Hidden Messages in Water, Dr. Emoto points out that that the human body is about 60% water. If words had such an impact on bottles of water, he offers, how might words impact us as humans, given our composition? [Please note that Dr. Emoto’s experiments and his methodology have been met with some controversy; however, thus far his results have not been invalidated.]
The ability to communicate using words in part makes us human and allows us to connect with one another. It is undeniable that the words we write or speak to others can have an enormous impact and create long-lasting memories; words can make or break relationships. Words can express the abstract, engage us in the fullness of a story and stir our imagination. And words are not only powerful, but sacred – what does it mean to you to give your word?
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Could anything be further from the truth??? Not only can we inflict tremendous pain on others through what we say, sometimes mindlessly, but the greatest damage of all is the result of the words we constantly say to ourselves. Observe your thoughts for a day, an hour, even a minute …notice how many times negative words echo in your head, how they reinforce each other, inevitably leading down the path to misery – of our own making. Would you say it would be of great advantage to be able to quiet those thoughts, to be able to control them? Keep joining us on Facebook where you can practice – as powerful as words are, even more powerful is the ability to control them. https://www.facebook.com/dawncady.mindsetcoach/posts/416641752258007?__tn__=K-R
“If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome 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.” -Betty Eadie
?It’s only words, and words are all I have to take your heart away? –Bee Gees
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