“Words have energy and dynamic power to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble. Think of the power we wield and the impact we can make if we become more intentional about encouraging our children. The right words make all the difference.” 

Words have power. Think about the most powerful word spoken to you as a child. Do their words still bring emotions to you? If you reflect upon your memory, you might find out those words have left some effects in your belief system and formation of your character. You might even be behaving as if you are not good enough by the effect of words spoken over your life. 

Reflecting on the words spoken to me as a child became myself. Had I not believed what the adults in my life told me in my early years, I would not have developed social anxiety and missed out on so much fun in my life. But I am still grateful that I have the opportunity and knowledge now to work on it. Resenting the past doesn’t do any good, does it? This knowledge also made me extra cautious about the things we parents tell our kids.

Psychologists have found that our subconscious mind interprets what it hears very literally. The words that come out of our mouth therefore create the reality we inhabit – for better or worse. Experiments have shown that different words cause changes in the brain. 

Destructive words increase the production of stress hormones. Words that build you up, on the other hand, promote the release of ‘well-being’ hormones. The words we choose and how we use them can build others up or tear them down; bring the community together. The words may have made you depressed, upset or have low self-esteem and made you overthink something minor than what you said. Your intentions may be good and if someone misinterprets it, it is really frustrating.

Words are not just labels that we attach to concepts and ideas that are manipulated and combined at a deeper cognitive level. Words construct meaning and allow us to form, combine and elaborate complex thoughts that would otherwise be impossible to handle.