The power of words –part II

Root problem – Lack  of knowledge

Man does not reach his full potential in most cases. And the core cause is lack of knowledge. What potential? The potential to do good, to do LIFE producing work. You may not, at the first instance, agree to it. But you will, after looking at a few examples. If you are qualified and yet unemployed, it is because you do not know the company that requires your services. You are sick because did not  know that some work you did or you did not do would result in the sickness. Health is avast subject that would require lot of space to write on. However, briefly we can say that lack of the knowledge of the health laws is the cause of sickness. Health involves not only man’s body as such, but also his soul and spirit. At this point it would suffice to say that the well being of his soul spirit is at the core of man’s health.

The Human Mind

As a man thinks, so he lives. Man’s mind controls his life. And the mind functions upon the knowledge input. The human mind  is a factory that processes information and produces thoughts followed by words and actions. Throughts give birth to words. These words find their way out from the mind into the world through speaking or writing, through the mouth or the fingers holding  a pen. And man’s whole life fabric is woven out in this processing  in his mind, the decision he made upon them and the action he performed.

The Role of Environment

A person’s story is created, not by himself alone, but also by the people around him. This statement is not entirely true, as what is effectual is the words people speak into his life. It is not necessary that all people the words people speak into his life. It is not necessary that all people around him speak to him. Words and thoughts come to him people, from the world around him including  nature. Books, newspaper and the multimedia also influence the thinking of man. People ans thing need not speak to him, in order to impact him. The silence of some people also speak to man. Nature does not speak words, necessarily. And yet, they convey messages. Communication goes on between man and his surroundings. This takes place mostly in the through from. Messages are processed in the printing press in the mind of man. It is his decision to discard some  and consider others. He can ignore negatives and concentrate upon positives.

Formation

Word are formed in man’s mind. They flow out through his mouth or his fingers. Among all creation, God has given only man the gift of speech.

Words are Transferable.

Words can be preserved like a pickle in a sense.pickles, of course, get consumed, but not words. Words can be preserved for every in the written from in paper and in the soft copy in a computer. Written words take on life when they are read. That is what student wants do. They hear words. They read words in their books and get their content into their brains. Again at exam time the ideas come out in words in their minds and their fingers are quick to put  them on paper. The mind acts like an answer machine.

Words are containers.

Words contain knowledge. They contain life secrets and knowledge on different subjects. They contain inspiration, encouragement & emotions. Reading books has changed the life of thousand of of people. The experience of people who have travelled the path of life before, is recorded in books. Reading them, we can avoid the mistakes they  made and keep walking on the path to success. T^hey can make people feel at ease and laugh. These are LIFE words. Negative words can people, make them mad or sad. They are DEATH words.

Words are Keys

With words we can lock and unlock. We can close doors of opportunity with words. Using words we can open up the doors of good will in people. With just a mere ‘Don’t’ , we can propel people we into action.

Words are Binding.

With our we make a statement, a promise. And it becomes binding upon us. We are bound by our words. You go to a shop and ask the price of a bag. The shopman says Rs.500. You negotiate and say you would pay 300 bucks. The shopman agrees. At once you think in your mind, you should have quoted 200 instead of 300. But you yourself know now you can’t do it. The word came out of your mouth and you are bound by it you can’t go back.

Aperson of Integrity

Knowing the value of words, you get careful using them. You no more casual or joking with words. Some people speak rash words and seeing the reaction of the listener, would say, ‘I was only joking’. That is a very smart way of escaping. Being true to one’s word, makes one a man of his words. A person you’ll go to his place in the evening, and towards evening you find you can’t make it, you should call him and inform about it. Make yourself a person of commitment in this manner.

Speak What you mean, and mean what you say.

For your words to produce result, you should speak words you mean. Your thinking has to line up with your words. Once a teacher instructed his foreign students that they should come in their uniforms  from the next Monday. These students were coming for months in casuals. The teacher turned aside and told us colleagues, ‘I know these boys would never come wearing their uniforms’. I got annoyed  and told the teacher he should n’t be cancelling out his own instructions in this manner, and stated that the students would surely obey him. Thus I cancelled out his own contradiction and the students did come in their uniforms.

Substantiate Words with Substance

What I have given is a very common example  of most people saying one thing without substance and expressing their doubts and fears in the next moment. This they do because they do not understand the role of words in human life. Holding back hope expectation while speaking words, is like speaking empty words that do not perform. Words are supposed to perform work. If we want our words to work, we need to put substance into them. They come out in full value and power and execute the work.

Words are Tools.

Words are weapons and tools freely available to man. Some people in distress come to us for help. What they are looking for is moral support more than financial assistance. People narrate to us incidents. What they expect is our comments- our judgment. Since we know words are force that make  or break, we can use them for creative purposes. When a person disheartened comes to us, we can revive that person’s drooping spirit with  our LIFE words. Like a dying plant in dry soil receiving water and rising back to life, such despondent people would lift up their  heads again. Receiving hope and direction, once again they would pick up from where they fell, and continue their life journey.

If we understand the power of words, we would use them to do the work we want to get done. For example, parents and teachers would speaking performance words in future tense, ignoring the present discouraging performance. These words start working. Speaking words like, ‘ My son will score above 80%. He will become a responsible citizen, would get the work done in due time. The words will create change in son, and he will become what  the parents speak into his life. We have seen the lives of failures driven to it by the cursing words spoken by druken fathers and disgusted mothers. We have also known of great men built up by the words  spoken by their parents with the trust they placed in those words.

Words are Seeds

We all have the adage, ‘As you sow, so you shall reap’, in our own vernacular versions. A farmer sows seeds and reaps their harvest in a multiplied from. A single mango seed sown into the dirt, would sprout and grow up to be a tree that would produces mangoes in thousands, season after season. In life, words are seeds. Just as an apple seed produces apples, words also produce their kind. Words of encouragement would produce words of hope time and again, Of court, just as a mango seed takes time to grow into a mango seed, words also take their time produce their results. Plant a vision in a student to become a millionaire so that he can give back to the world. The seed would take 10 or more years to materialize. LIFE words produce life and DEATH words produce death. Speak what you want, not what you see. Something new? Yes, we are used to speaking out what we see, even to predict the future –at least immediate future. Looking at the darkening horizon around 4.30, (our time to leave college) my college would say, ‘ It’s going to rain. You know, this is the shankranti time…, ‘Something to this tune. And I would say, ‘No, it is n’t . It should rain at midnight;  not during the day, not during the night. For people have to come and go. And my words came true. Once Arun madam came walking from college to hastily,instead of waiting for the college bus. Seeing me, she smiled and said, ‘I knew that till Elsy madam reaches the hostel, it would n’t rain.

We Get What We Speak

It’s like placing orders, words I mean. We say,  ‘Don’t drink water from the frid he. You would catch a cold. Don’t run, you’d fall.naturally, the words would do their work. Once two little boys had climbed trees. They climbed happily and sat on each tree. The climbing was indeed exciting, but not for long. Now they looked down and wanted to come down. However, fear gripped them. ‘How shall I come down? each thought. Their mothers stood below, looking up at them. They were worried and scared. One mother said to her son,’Be careful’. Just take a little care while coming down. You can make it. The other mother said, ‘Take care that you don’t fall down’. The first child came down safely, but the other fell down. This incident very clearly tell that we get what we utter.

It is only natural to get worried over little things. We fear a great many things that really don’t happen. As the commotion is going on in the mind and heart, we give word to our fear. That is the blunder we do, even for the persons we love. We lead them to fall, to sickness, to failure, to accidents, just by expressing our fears.

But since we have learnt of the science of words through this article, I am sure all readers would come to a new level of understanding. You have learnt a big secret about life. So you shall control your thoughts and your speech, and thereby, direct your life to paths of safety, serenity and success.

Helps to Tame the Tongue

Empty vessels make the most noise. A person speaks out what is in his heart. Hence, we need to empty our minds of sickness thoughts and failure thoughts. We need to flush out fear from our hearts. Easily said than done, you would say. Find they get inside and stop the inlets. The doors of entry are man’s eyes and ears. So take a stock at input sources. They can be people & books, TV. Choose the good ones and leave the bad ones. This the path to peace and success.

Mrs. Elsy Matthew

Assistant Professor –English

Brindavan College of Engineering