Category: English

Words are expressed in many different ways. Some soothe like a warm summer breeze, others cut like a knife without mercy. Some are like the wind which comes and goes, others stay etched in our minds forever. Some build us up and others tear us down.

What are the words you repeat mentally every day?

Do they encourage you to try harder and carry on, or to throw in the towel and give up?

It’s ironic but the word we hear most as a child (and many times as an adult) is the word “no.” It’s almost impossible to find a parent anywhere in the world who doesn’t use it with some frequency to reprimand their children. Nevertheless, think about it for a moment. What is the message we give to a child when we repeatedly tell him or her that they can’t do something? Are we are conditioning them create obstacles in their path or encouraging them to overcome difficulty to reach their full potential?

Following, a couple of ideas regarding the use of words:

Choose your words carefully when speaking and writing, but perhaps even more so when you are thinking. While we have all seen the damage spoken and written words can cause, not so obvious is why to be cautious with the words we use in our “internal conversations.” From the time we wake up in the morning, the person we generally speak with the most is ourself. Since this is the case, use words that empower you to open the doors of opportunity, rather than those that castrate your every ability. The words we use create the people we will become.

Learn to listen to others. The words others use when they talk are based on their interpretation of the world. They are neither more or less valid than ours, they are simply an expression of their reality. As such, it isn’t necessary to try to convince others we are right, because in their minds they already are. By paying attention and listening carefully to the words others use, we can better understand what motivates them, and besides, paying attention to others is one of the most valuable gifts we can give them.

Words form an important part of existence and they are with us wherever we go. With them we can build fantastic castles where there was previously nothing, or we can cause the same to come tumbling down. The language we use daily creates the reality we live eventually. Use words wisely to leave love and prosperity in your wake.

∞ Rob McBride ∞
LL IV 43

Have you wondered why some people are able to overcome difficulty more easily than others?

Like a palm tree shaken by a storm that bends but does not break, we too can learn how to do to the same. Following are some suggestions to help you handle adversity and grow in the process:

• Remember that nothing is forever. The same way the year has seasons and these come and go, so too occurs with the storms of life; they have a beginning and an end. Like when a wonderful sunny day suddenly becomes completely overcast, the same thing can happen to us. You can go from feeling like you are on top of the world looking down, and in an instant, as the result of a word, a look, or a silence suddenly feel like you are groveling on the ground. This is when it is wise to remember the Chinese proverb: “Fall down seven times, get up eight.”

• Ask yourself, “What is right about this situation?” Regardless of the challenge, do this exercise. No matter how bad the news, and while it may seem impossible, find out what is good about the situation. We consider some things to be “bad”, but in the end they could be the source of something good. Imagine that your spouse tells you, “I’m fed up! I want to leave and live my life with someone else.” While this appears to be tough at first and perhaps you would prefer to never have to go through it, this news can open an opportunity to meet other people who very well could be much more compatible with you.

• Think about those who have gone through something similar. Another way to bend without breaking in the process is to think of those who have faced the same situation, or even worse, than what we face right now. Do you think you are the only one with problems? Do you think you are the only one in the world who has lost a loved one or made a mistake on something important? Well, I’ve got news for you, you are not! Right now, there are almost eight billion people in the world and I can assure you that among them many have gone through equal or worse circumstances. Most interesting is that these difficulties have been overcome in some way, shape, or form by many of them.

• Realize death as inevitable. Though I know it’s not nice to talk about this, regardless of our age, economic or social status, losing someone close to us is difficult. There isn’t any way to paint as something positive about it. Nevertheless, it is completely natural and happens with some frequency. The idea isn’t to be morbid, or negative about death, but rather realistic. In your experience, what generally happens in the world after someone dies? In mine, life goes on, and certainly when our time comes to “pass on over to the other side,” the same will happen.

It’s not easy to bend without breaking, but it’s not impossible. I know of no magic wand which will eliminate all of the problems you might have, but it is possible to diminish the magnitude of the effect adversity has on you. When you but your difficulties into perspective, generally you see that it is not the end of the word, rather a lesson to be learned and this can enable you to bend without breaking.

∞ Rob McBride ∞
LL IV 42