When we watch movies about wizards and witches, they are always making things happen by casting ‘spells’ using strange ancient magical words in arcane languages. Yet, the reality is that all Words, in whatever language, have power. All of us wield this power every day with impunity not recognizing the havoc we create because we are completely oblivious to the power of what we are doing. We have been conditioned to react using our egos to unleash torrents of emotional harm and devastation that simmer and escalate to produce situations that become worse all the time. We are co-creators of our world. We act like victims, but the simple truth is that we have been taught to co-create all the human and earth-changing problems this planet is currently undergoing. And it all starts with words being unconsciously cast out into the seemingly empty ether from all of us every day.
Yet, words can create positive as well as negative ‘spells’ using often very simple words What drives those words are our beliefs. We all want to create good situations and experiences, but inevitably, despite short term successes, we always seem to find that our ‘spells’ end up creating havoc and trauma. Don’t feel guilty, nearly everyone does it. It’s how we have been conditioned as a species over many millennia. In two much earlier posts (Spirituality {Feb 2018}), and (Framing for Positive Communication and Interactions- How language creates our thoughts and frames our behaviors and well-being {August 2018}) I explain this simply with how we readily use short statements like, “I Hate You” to broad groups of people, and yet are cautiously judicious and highly selective of statements like, “I Love You” to a select few, all because of our conditioning.
Simple statements can make or break the quality of a person’s day. Words have the power to boost a person’s self-esteem and empower them to believe in their ability to make positive things happen. They can also destroy a person’s self-esteem and make them bitter, resentful, and ready to believe the worse of everything. We do this will every utterance we create and do this endlessly day after day, year after year. Then because of our conditioning, we then condition our children the same way. It takes a brave person to step back, recognize their attachment to belief structures, and then to begin thinking differently.
Yes, words can empower, soothe injured egos, and the world can change overnight. But, words can, and do, all too often, hurt and injure egos. Words can spread incredible ideas and knowledge that used wisely, build humanity’s potential. But words can also spread reckless and foolhardy notions that create derision and polarization. It’s not just people in power positions that do this, but we do this when we follow their words blindly without thoughtful reflection – are the words trying to ferment good or bad will? A leader’s words will reach more people than a humble individual’s, yet, look at some of the most notable individuals that became great leaders because of their words e.g., Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. There is a long list of these kinds of wonderful people. They weren’t ‘special,’ they just used words with positive power that spoke to the deepest recesses of our being where hope, happiness and joy exist as the core aspects describing who we truly think that we want to be.
We suffer, literally, from the pursuit of happiness. We are always on the run, on the move, and on the go. Our goal is not to enjoy the day, it is to get through the day. Robert Holden. This quote is about ‘Destination Addiction,’ which I first introduced in an earlier post (The role of Limiting Beliefs and Empowering Beliefs 2 – Breaking away from Consumerism {June 2019}). Life is about the journey not the destination. It’s about being here now. And that also goes for our mindset about how we live. Sustainable Living isn’t something that we hope will occur in some near future. It’s good to have goals to reach for, but more often than not, those goals always remain in the future – that’s when we get despondent. Sustainable Living is something we need to start living now, especially if we want to live in a world of our choosing, and not the draconian world that the hierarchy have planned in order to ‘save us’ from the consumer lifestyle that created our modern ecological problems. I have said many times, your thoughts become your beliefs (e.g., see The role of Limiting Beliefs and Empowering Beliefs 1 – Becoming Empowered through Metacognition {May 2019}), and your actions and behaviors mirror the way you live. You might consciously suppress a belief to avoid being legally or socially sanctioned (e.g., a negative belief about a certain group) but it will flavor your behaviors to that group and how you talk about it with people who share your belief. Likewise, you might say you want a sustainable future, but you maintain acting like a consumer and give excuses as to why you cannot act sustainably.
“You do not end a belief by not believing it, you end it by not living it.” Michael Roads. Every sentence you express reinforces what you believe. It expresses your belief structures like a computer program and establishes your way of living and doing, and how you influence others every day. You can’t simply say, “I don’t believe that anymore” and yet continue to live that believe out – nothing changes. “To end a belief that negatively affects your life you are required to stop living that outmoded belief. It works best by replacing the old belief with another, more supportive one, and living it. Note that living it is the key ingredient. This requires continual conscious attention” Roads. Make a conscious effort to think about the words that you use every moment of your day. Make a note of how often they are negative (complaint, derision, grumble, moan, objection, criticism, etc.) and how often they are positive (praise, acclaim, accolade, compliment, kind word, appreciation, etc.), and also note how many were used to express your personal ego-agenda. If you need any validation of how words matter, think of any day when you received positive or negative reinforcement, and how you felt on the receiving end of those words (positive or negative).
If we are to break the cycles of violence, hatred, greed, selfishness, war, etc., we need to consciously look at how we use language and especially the words and metaphors that frame them from our beliefs. This all equates to the stories we tell ourselves (see Apparent Chaos as the Indicator of a New System Developing 2 – The stories we tell ourselves {May 2019}) and how we unconsciously and mindlessly propagate chaos and continue consumerism, or consciously (deliberate and intentionally – Metacognition) begin the process of self and societal change for sustainability. More about this in the next post.
To Be Continued …………
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