VaMoonRise
08-14-2007, 09:16 PM
THE POWER OF THE TONGUE
by Chris Widener
There is an old proverb with a lot of wisdom. It says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and whoever loves it will eat its fruit."
It is so true. What we say has the ability to create situations, emotions, and thoughts in others. A kind word helps people, negative words hurt - sometimes for a very long time.
But here I want to talk about this concept in relation to ourselves. How does what we say affect us? Tremendously. There is a simple principle here. Only say things that will create in you positive emotions, thoughts, feelings, and ultimately, actions.
Let me give you a good example. We do not allow the words "I can't" in our house. Why? Because we CAN! The very minimum is "I'll try." We ask our kids to say "I'll try." If we allow our kids, or ourselves, to fall into the trap of saying "I can't," guess what? We won't! And that's not good, is it?
Do you tell yourself negative thoughts during the day? Most of us can fall into that temptation, can't we? I was working the other day and I was brewing over something bad that had happened and I was just getting bent out of shape. So I stopped, realized I had the power to choose what I was saying to myself and began to think about and tell myself good things. And my day changed for the better.
Have you ever been in your backswing on the golf course and said to yourself, "I am going to shank this one." What happens? You shank it. This actually happens to me. So what do I do? I stop my backswing, reset myself, and tell myself I am going to hit it straight down the fairway. What happens? About half the time I hit it straight, the other half, I shank it, but increasing your ability is a future article! At the very least I increase my chances of performing better. Bad thoughts almost guarantee my failure, while good thoughts increase my chances for success dramatically.
by Chris Widener
There is an old proverb with a lot of wisdom. It says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and whoever loves it will eat its fruit."
It is so true. What we say has the ability to create situations, emotions, and thoughts in others. A kind word helps people, negative words hurt - sometimes for a very long time.
But here I want to talk about this concept in relation to ourselves. How does what we say affect us? Tremendously. There is a simple principle here. Only say things that will create in you positive emotions, thoughts, feelings, and ultimately, actions.
Let me give you a good example. We do not allow the words "I can't" in our house. Why? Because we CAN! The very minimum is "I'll try." We ask our kids to say "I'll try." If we allow our kids, or ourselves, to fall into the trap of saying "I can't," guess what? We won't! And that's not good, is it?
Do you tell yourself negative thoughts during the day? Most of us can fall into that temptation, can't we? I was working the other day and I was brewing over something bad that had happened and I was just getting bent out of shape. So I stopped, realized I had the power to choose what I was saying to myself and began to think about and tell myself good things. And my day changed for the better.
Have you ever been in your backswing on the golf course and said to yourself, "I am going to shank this one." What happens? You shank it. This actually happens to me. So what do I do? I stop my backswing, reset myself, and tell myself I am going to hit it straight down the fairway. What happens? About half the time I hit it straight, the other half, I shank it, but increasing your ability is a future article! At the very least I increase my chances of performing better. Bad thoughts almost guarantee my failure, while good thoughts increase my chances for success dramatically.