Ask anyone who’s ever been bullied, scolded, shamed or belittled. Words have power. Ask anyone who’s received accolades or acknowledgments, awards or recognition. Words have power. We see them in this flat sort of way, they’re just words. We say a million things to each other and to ourselves each day and give not a second thought to their sway, power or deeper meanings. Some of us try to put all of our heart and soul into carefully chosen phrases and pleas, but in the end it’s up to the receiver to determine their value and worth…to them.

I have often fallen under the spell of words. I love words! Duh! Ha-ha! You wouldn’t know it from my occasional over usage of slang and profanity, but I love to mix things up and hear them ring. I take words to heart. I keep them close to me. I will hear what someone said to me a thousand times in my head late at night. I will pick apart their intent, meaning and poetry with the eye of a jeweler and the ear of a piano tuner. They can affect me so deeply that I am frozen in place. They can cut me so deeply that I am beyond words myself. They can lift me to a high plane and allow me to see my own life or the world itself from a new perspective. I love words! Words have power!

We all have this sort of inner dialogue, too, that we don’t always think about or engage. What happens in our heads, well, no one can truly ever know. What we tell and say to ourselves each day, everyday, throughout the day is often what guides us through our lives. Decisions are considered, weighed and decided. Feelings are sorted and felt and finally chosen. We see ourselves in a mirror and say things that can help or hurt like no one else’s words ever could. We know how to cut deeper, we know how to hurt more keenly and more permanently than anyone else could. We can become our own worst enemy without moving a single inch. We can sit completely still and destroy ourselves from the inside out. The mind is a powerful thing.

Words have power and they can manipulate and control. What we tell ourselves each day has power and meaning. We can choose to tear ourselves down over and over again or we can choose a better way of living overall. By cheering ourselves on, by lifting our own spirits and giving ourselves the space a freedom, mentally, to be our best selves! Words have power! I have kicked my inner critic to the curb, have you? Even when I’m not feeling my best I don’t allow it to creep back and kick me when I’m down. Why? Because I deserve to be treated better than that! I deserve to be treated with respect and honesty. I need support and love and my inner critic was giving me the opposite of that. No more room at this inn for you!

Judging oneself and others turns a dark lens onto the world and each other. When you judge people you are only showing your true colors, not theirs. Your inner thoughts, opinions and emotions have power, too. They have the power to help or to hurt you. They have the power to save or destroy you. I know because when I am left to my own devices for too long I lean towards self destruction. I can recognize it now before the real impulses begin, but what a revelation?! I over think and I place meaning on the meaningless and put faith and love in people who don’t deserve it or would ever even ask for it. I get hurt so easily. I am more fragile and vulnerable than I can even admit to myself. I am an open wound fighting infection through sheer mind control! Ha-ha!

We can choose to be the wound or to wound ourselves and others. We can choose to love ourselves and support ourselves. We can nurture these bodies we have and live inside. We can celebrate the beauty and wonders of the world or we can see the darkness in the light of day. It is and has always been up to each of us individually. Words have power, after all. We can choose to use them for good or bad. We can choose the path towards a better us or we can give up and squander all we’ve built and grown. It really is up to us. I want better and bright and richer and truer. I don’t want to hide in the dark anymore. I want to improve and move and relax and enjoy! I hope that you do, too.