Words to Evolve By
Do you remember the saying “Sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you”?
My grandmother shared this with me to protect my ego. Sure it made sense. Words are not physical. Surely, they can’t damage your body, so why would you let what someone says about you bother you? Those were useful words when I was in survival mode. It allowed me to kept my head up and ignore the silly things my classmates would say about me.
We can work it out.
But let’s go deeper. The most hurtful, long lasting words some kid told me was that I was ‘chicken’. I never liked to fight, never mind that I didn’t know how. The important thing is that I always felt that everyone should get along and that if there was a disagreement, there was a way to talk it out. Apparantly I was the only one in my school that felt this way because folks went fist to cuffs frequently. In order to avoid any fist to cuffs myself, I made a b-line home from school everyday, sometimes sneaking out early to avoid someones threat. This only reinforced the label of chicken.
Chicken
Although being called a ‘chicken’ did not hurt me physically, it did do something to my self-esteem. My subsconcious mind took over when I attempted to do something challenging. Where a part of me would want to, let’s say jump in the pool of water after one of my friends, the other part of me would be reluctant because my subscious mind reminded me that I was a ‘chicken’ and therefore would not like the cold water hitting my body so abruptly. To this day, I take an abnormally long time to get in the pool. I am one of those that inch in from the shallow end because I am waiting for my body to adjust to the water temperature. Chicken!
Words are powerful
So words are powerful. They effect our inner being. In our lifetimes, each of us was on the receiving end of some not-so-affirming words that made impressions on us. These impressions have become evident in the way we think and the way we act. They affect the choices we make. These words show up in our lives, in our relationships, in our finances, in our health.
Affirmating words
Affirmations are words that are affirming to us. They feed our mind with good stuff. Affirmations are often written or said in the first person. Ex.: “I am brave”. “Positive affirmations help me to live to my full potential”.
When a negative word or phrase comes at you, simply reverse it. Also listen to your inner thoughts. Don’t be surprised if you are the one saying some of those negative things. They are there because someone, at some time in your life, told them to you. Please know that they do not reflect the true you. Reverse the thought with a positive affirmation.
In the near future, you will find some “Words to evolve by”, as I will be providing them for you as time goes by. If you have any that worked for you, feel free to post them on the “Open Journal” for us to see.Kinyofu
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