Minding Your Words

"He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help" ~Abraham Lincoln

"If your heart acquires strength, you will be able to remove blemishes from others without thinking evil of them." ~Mohandas K. Gandhi

"He only profits from praise who values criticism." ~Heinrich Heine

Words have the power to inspire and destroy. When I was young, I quite often heard from my Grandmother; "mind your words". It's true though, sometimes I have a problem with going on and on about something. I also have a fabulous knack of just saying what's on my mind at times without really thinking about the repercussion of it. This can be a bonus or a bane!!! LOL! Positive words can empower people towards great accomplishments. And negative words can be highly destructive! But how do you know when you're being critical and when you're actually producing constructive criticism?

First, it's easy for us to intake negativity more easily than it is positivity. Why? Because that's what we're dealing with 24/7!! TV and online news is primarily focused on all that is "WRONG" in the world.. we barely get a glimpse of the few miracles and heroes before there is another story of something devastating! If you think life is horrible.. think back to a moment ago.. were you just stressing over a bill that is due? What do you think the first thing out of your mouth is going to be when you get to the mailbox and see it?! If you're Gordon Ramsey, it'd probably be something like MUTHA F#[K!N BILL!! People who deal with depression, may also find they're overly critical of themselves saying things like "I'll NEVER accomplish that" or "Sometimes I'm just stupid". Here is a simple test you can do for yourself to see if your words are falling on the NEGATIVE or POSITIVE spectrum.

Take a piece of paper and mark down these words, phrases, and/or any similar that you find yourself using. Throughout the day, place a mark when you find yourself saying one of these words.

Negative
· Useless
· Empty
· Impossible
· Ugly
· Weak
· Lonely
· Hopeless
· Loser
· Failure
· Bad person
· Stupid
· NEVER
· Lost

Positive
· Beautiful
· Hope
· THANK YOU!! (It really is under used!)
· Please (same as above!)
· Fabulous
· Awesome
· Smart thinking
· Great
· Terrific
· LOVE
· Wonderful
· You're the best!
· FUN (I think people are forgetting that word a lot!)

You might also want to make a note if you were feeling a certain way when these words came popping out of your mouth. Remember, negative words are going to be associated with feelings of despair, disappointment, anxiety, anger, guilt, and frustration. Whereas feelings of hope, happiness, accomplishment, pride, passion and love are from encouraging, positive words!

The more practice with minding your words, the easier it becomes to Mind Your Thoughts! By speaking negative words, the more you'll feel unwanted emotions. Until you remove the negative chatter from your mind, you won’t be able to lead the happy life you envision yourself in. If you're feeling depressed, lonely, or generally down on yourself. Check out what you're actually expressing aloud. You may just surprise yourself! Start using words that spread happiness and watch how the energy around you and within you starts to change!

Many Blessings!