The Power of the Word

Of all the powerful weapons of destruction that man has invented, the most terrible - and the most cowardly - is the word. Knives and firearms leave traces of blood. Bombs shake whole buildings and streets. Poisons can always be detected. But a destructive word can provoke Evil without leaving behind it a single clue. Children are subject to years of conditioning by their parents, artists are mercilessly pilloried, women are systematically undermined by remarks made by their husbands, the faithful are kept apart from religion by those who judge themselves capable of interpreting the voice of God. Check to see if you yourself are using this weapon. Check to see if someone is using this weapon on you. And put a stop to both. - Paulo Coehlo

Coehlo is right. Words have immense power of destruction, but they can also be the best medicine. Unfortunately, when we look at the humanity, it seems that not too many people have chosen to use the words in this sense. 

How many lives have been irreversibly damaged by words? 

Consider a child who has been told that he is too stupid or too ugly to follow his dreams. The loving parents only wanted to protect him from the big disappointment life brings. Over the years he became conditioned to mediocrity and never even dared to imagine what his live could have been if he was given a little encouragement and followed his dreams.

I believe that it is not too late for anyone to repair the damage done to us by our parents, siblings, school teachers, employers, politicians, preachers, spouses and friends. We might never become the rocket scientists we wanted to be when we were young, but we can learn to restore our self-confidence. We can learn to dream again. 

The change will not occur overnight simply because we want it to happen. The whole reprogramming is a long process that involves a lot of work, courage, discipline and self love.

We must also become aware of the way we are communicating with others. Do we use words carelessly and hurt people we love? Do we use powerful words to cause pain? Do we use words to denigrate ourselves or others or do we encourage them and give them hope?

Once you realize that words have power it is really up to you to use them as weapons that destroy others or as tools that help construct dreams.

Dominique Teng 

Dominique Teng©2014

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