I have to admit, the usage of words and how powerful they can be is something I really didn’t know until now. Growing up in a Christian household, the only word that I thought had power was the Word of God. I mean He created the Earth with His words. As I contemplate that, I believe the Christian creation story can also be symbolism for the power of our words. We, too, can use them to create. We can also use our words to destroy. Just like me, I don’t know if many people are aware of the energy that comes with the words that we speak and write. With our words, we yield the magic to help, humble, encourage, humiliate, and even destroy a person’s life. With great power comes great responsibility.

After much growth in this area, I’m trying to be more discipline in the words that I say by having an intention of love. I think one of the cornerstones of maturity is how we speak. I don’t mean cursing less, or using less slang. It’s more about having an intent with words convey respect, gentleness and humility. It’s not enough to be nice. I still don’t care about tact. Both these things are superficial in my eyes. I want to be able to speak kind words that bring inspiration and encouragement. I guess you can say that’s one of my motivations for writing these blog posts. The truth is, I’m still not that great of a talker, but I have a new motivation to keep working on it.

Without consciousness, a majority of what we say is pure gossip. We tend to say the first things that come to our mind with no regard to how the other will take it once they hear it. Most of the time it’s negative. In an effort to be more compassionate, I have to be more mindful of the thoughts that come into my head and not spew the first thing that comes to mind.

A Few Rules to Live By

Now that I truly believe this concept of powerful words, it’s a mater of putting it into practice. What would be some rules to live by in order to be more conscious with my speech? I know one thing for sure, “the truth will set you free.” It’s very exhausting to lie, so I rather feel the very temporary sting of telling the truth then try to keep up something false.

One thing I have to work on is not speaking in absolutes, or not exaggerating my point. I should say things like most instead of all, or very little instead of no one. Saying things in absolute terms usually shuts down the opinion of someone else, thus not giving me the chance to learn a different perspective.

Those are the hard ones. The easy ones that we should always be conscious of is never using my voice to manipulate others and never using my words to insult or put someone down. These are things that I’m very conscious not to do because I hate when they are done to me.

Lead with Love

As we go into this new year, my resolution is to consciously choose love in every decision that I make. If you read this be my accountability partner. Call me out when you don’t hear love coming from my mouth. Even if we are in a debate, I want to make sure my truth is told in a way that doesn’t come off as offensive. If I feel a bit of defensiveness it’s probably time for me to shut my mouth. I don’t want my speech to feel superior to anyone. I want us to be on the highest plains together.