Words have power. Use them wisely.

“Words. So powerful. They can crush a heart, or heal it. They can shame a soul or liberate it. They can shatter dreams or energize them. They can obstruct connections or invite it. They can create defenses, or melt them. We have to use our words wisely.”

I present to you a quote from Jeff Brown, a spiritual author. It’s one that not many people hear, and one that not many receive.

People will tell you to “speak your mind,” or to “speak your truth.” Yet, I have to ask if we really know what that means.

When we use words, we must understand the level of power our tongues possess. Seriously, they are strong enough to ruin bonds that have been strengthened for years and shift one’s whole perspective on something once thought to be true. Yet, they also carry great strength to heal someone or give them a new mindset, maybe even a new dream. Either way, our mouths can take us to one of the two extremes.

I am not saying that you should be scared of your words, but to acknowledge what they can do. Understand that what you might say can change one’s life for the better or worse. This is why speaking our “truth” or “mind” may not be as beneficial as we think.

A prominent way our lives fall into one of the extremes is due to how we speak to ourselves. Through many studies, psychology proves that the more words spoken over yourself, aloud, the brain starts to believe as true.

Cognitive dissonance has been studied to further imply this notion. Cognitive dissonance is the tension, or discomfort, you feel when you do or say something that goes against your initial belief. For example, you value yourself as a person yet you do something wrong and say the words, “Oh, I’m so dumb.”

Once spoken, this feeling of discomfort starts to arise. You might not realize it at the moment, but it is happening. And as you keep saying it, your brain begins to get tired of the discomfort and therefore changes your initial beliefs to force you to believe those words. Crazy, right?

It just further proves that we actually have the power to determine our lives, to change our mindsets unwillingly, and to place ourselves in a lifestyle that we had never intended for ourselves.

We have become too comfortable with negative talk. Using it in our day to day lives. “I hate myself, life sucks, I’m annoying.” All these little lines we drop into our vocabulary start to become key parts of our lives.

The worst part is that, at first, we never mean it. Negative talks are typically born through minor inconveniences throughout the day, popping out with no hesitation. After that, they become routine, so much that we grow to say them with meaning. This is a slippery slope to poor mental health.

Nonetheless, our tongues can work the same way just in the opposite manner. We can speak positively over our lives, and then see prosperity come out of that. Whenever you fall short of something, have you ever thought of telling yourself that you are capable? Perhaps you are struggling to understand a concept in class, so you remind yourself that you are smart.

This is our combat to negative talk using the  very same tool. We must shift our tongues to react positively instead of negatively in small moments like those.

Say whatever you want but, hear me out, daily affirmations are one of our biggest aids to our minds. If you speak well of yourself (and others!), your mind shifts its values to align with these words. This creates a sound mind within us, full of peace and joy.

So no matter how you speak, life will always throw its curveballs. What you say dictates how you begin to view the struggles in your way. Are they mountains that are impossible to climb, or are they stepping stones that are difficult to reach, but possible and impact growth?

Speak negatively, you will live your life negatively. Speak positively, you will feel content in the life you are in, and will want to continue pursuing it. It was never the universe that got in your way, but you yourself. More specifically your words. So I ask you, next time you speak, to whoever or whatever, that you consider the impact of your words.