‘’Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never break me.’’
– Unknown (to me atleast).
Who has not heard this being said? I agree with the first part of the sentence. Sticks and stones indeed have every potential to break your bones, but words, words can do far more than that. Words have the power to create a battle that no one knows about. The power to create a war within that will take everything you got to win. Words have the power to create a silent suffering, that more often than not goes unnoticed by the surrounding but also by the person dealing with it. Words are much more than just words. The Power Of Words can influence you all the way to the afterlife.
Categories Of Words
There are three kinds of categories of words that we use; negative, positive and neutral.
Category #1: The Negative Words
The mind’s default setting is on the negative. This comes down to pure evolution. The negative tells us what it is we should stay away from so we don’t die. It stems from wanting to survive. Negative words you can think of are poison, danger, fight, allergy, lion, fire etcetera. You might be thinking why would lion be in the that line up. You are partially right if you are thinking about this in terms of the odds of running into a lion. You are however wrong to think that just because the chance is small that this is something you can ignore at all times.
As with everything there are lots of if’s and but’s here. When you live in the middle of city, without any near by zoo than yes worrying about lions doesn’t make sense. However if you live in a city, three blocks from the zoo, lion will be a negative word for you because if anything ever goes wrong at the zoo it might be visiting you in your living room, hypothetically speaking.
You’d think that this would be the end of the story as one has a legit reason and the other doesn’t. It’s not, because it could be that you go on vacation to a place where lions do roam free for example. It’s in your best interest to not have devalued the power of the word lion so you can quickly respond when someone screams ”LION”. Ages ago this was the case with several animals that people had to be on the look out for and we carried the warnings with us through time, which is import for the survival of humankind.
Category #2: The Positive Words
The second category contains the positive words. The words that fall in this category remind you of happiness, joy and all the other good things that make us smile. I just already named positive words in order to describe to you what positive words are, namely happiness, joy and smile. Other examples are sunshine, traveling, family time and/or surprises.
Category #3: The Neutral Words
The last category are neutral words. Words that have no significant positive or negative connotation. They can however flip to either one of the sides; negative or positive. You can think of words like bus, bench, bank, house, pasta etc. These are things that just are, they exist.
The Importance Of Connotations
The power of all words lies in the meaning that we give to them. The meaning we attach to the words is for a grand part based on our experiences, thoughts and feelings. It is because we attach meaning to words based on the aforementioned subjects that when hearing them they can trigger nothing or everything. This is called connotation. Let me explain with an example; ever had someone start talking about something and you suddenly feel butterflies? Perhaps they were talking about a carnival that they really wanted to go to with lots of fun activities such as a stand with warm pretzels.
For your friends it might be just a fun snack they generally eat at a carnival but for you it could’ve been the moment where you held hands with your crush for the first time. This would give the neutral word ”pretzel” a positive connotation, all because of the feelings you specifically have when talking/thinking about it. Your friends might not have that, as for them it could be just a snack before the next carnival ride, so the categorization for them would be neutral.
Other times the connotation is taught to us. The easiest example I can give to you is when you were taught not to touch the flame of a candle. You were actively taught to make the connection that flames are bad to touch, so this is a taught negative meaning thus a negative connotation.
The Power Of Words Is In Their Connotation
The meaning based on our feelings and emotions is what gives the words their power. By speaking and thinking we are shaping our world. Our actions are of course not forgotten but that is a conversation for another day. Something important that you have ever so lightly been informed about is the fact that the connotations can change based on our experience. Let me give you a run down of how that works and how far and wide the power of your words actually reach.
The negative ones we can’t help but think off in a negative way. As I explained above this is purely based on survival. Like the example with the lion it is just not a good idea to suddenly start seeing them as you do your pet kitten, even when you work at a sanctuary for example and have known the lions their entire life.
The positive words start out positive but can be changed through our experiences, feelings and thoughts to negative words. For example you love getting a sundae on the first Sunday of the month, only this time you end up getting food poisoning. Something that has been very positive is now something terrible. The connotation has been flipped to a negative.
I didn’t mention this earlier but vice versa is can happen as well. For example when people say the negative sentence of ‘’You can’t do that’’ some people see that as a challenge, which robs the negative words of their negative power and gave them positive power. The kind of power that we need and want to attract and express. The meaning we associate with the words give them their power, I can’t repeat this enough.
What you need to remember always is that even if the words used were positive, they can still have a negative feeling for you. Ever felt sucker punched by someone’s happy news? Exactly my point, words have power. All words. Just as they can lift you up and shoot you to the stars, they also have the power to destroy all that you know. This all because of the meaning you have attached to them. I feel that it is important to say that this meaning of course goes way beyond their semantic meaning. The power is not drawn for there. The power is drawn from the meaning you have given the word.
I want to make clear that the power of words can reach far further than just feeling sucker punched for some time. Certain words can stick and integrate in your frame of reference. This will shine through in the way you use the words. Sometimes even in your tone of voice. But also in the things that you are not verbally communicating. Such as the implicit message. You know, what people read between the lines of what is actually said. Besides all of this, words also have a power within you.
The words you use in your inner dialogue contribute to the story you’re writing for yourself. Questions to wonder about are; What do these words that you are using for your inner dialogue mean to you? What experiences, thoughts and/or feelings are associated with the words you use? More importantly are you using positive words with a negative connotation? What power of words are you missing? What are you not seeing?
Conclusion
Opening your eyes to how you use your words can help your life story significantly. You need to remember that even though you are physically writing a life story on paper, you writing one in real life and this one does not come with an eraser. Seeing that the influence of your words can get intertwined so deep within your life without noticing it is worth taking a good look at the meaning and power of the vocabulary you are using.
Words might not be able to break your bones, but they might and can break your life story.
Love,
DCPR.
Help yourself write a more positive life story:
- 4 techniques to better the story you are writing.
- How the tenses you use influence your manifestation.
- How the words “when” and “if” influence your manifestation.
Enlighten your friends↴
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