STICKS AND STONES AND WORDS:

ANOTHER GOOD’N FROM “THE DAILY OM”

I look forward to the Daily Om dispatches that land in my email inbox somewhere before the Vatican Information Service daily briefing on all things pope-ular and before the first of dozens of unwanted hey-look-what-our-senator/congressman(woman)/candidate-did-today messages.

Today’s Om was one that might make Dennis Quaid’s character Cousin Eddie from the “National Lampoon’s _______ Vacation” franchise say: “BINGO!”

For your edification:
May 7, 2007

Feeling Our Words
Words Have Weight

Words carry energy and this gives language its power and its potential to heal or hurt. Most of us can remember a time that someone sent a word our way, and it stuck with us. It may have been the first time we received a truly accurate compliment, or the time a friend or sibling called us a name, but either way it stuck. This experience reminds us that what we say has weight and power and that being conscious means being aware of how we use words.

The more conscious we become, the more we deepen our relationship to the words we use so that we speak from a place of actually feeling what we are saying. We begin to recognize that words are not abstract, disconnected entities used only to convey meaning; they are powerful transmitters of feeling. For the next few days, you might want to practice noticing how the words you say and hear affect your body and your emotional state. Notice how the different communication styles of the people in your life make you feel. Also, watch closely to see how your own words come out and what affect they have on the people around you.

You may notice that when we speak quickly, without thinking, or rush to get our ideas across, our words don’t carry the same power as when we speak slowly and confidently, allowing those receiving our words time and space to take them in. When we carefully listen to others before we speak, our words have more integrity, and when we take time to center ourselves before speaking, we truly begin to harness the power of speech. Then our words can be intelligent messengers of healing and light, transmitting deep and positive feelings to those who receive them.

Or, as King David put it in Psalm 19:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”

Now, have a good Monday and let’s be careful out there.

GG