The Power of Words

This should be required reading for all new parents! And some old ones as well!

I agree whole-heartedly with this post!

This should be the prolog to the huamn handbook! GREAT POST!
Thanks for sharing,
that could be one of those PSA's you know like the ones that have to tell parents to talk to their children at all…wonderful post.
Heather

Really powerful post, Wil.  Imagine how the world would change if people realized the power of their words. 

And, I must add, imagine if people realized the power of the words they aim at themselves.  Negative self-talk is like a bulldozer to the soul.  And what comes out of our mouths, after all, is usually directly linked to what we say to ourselves inside our own heads.

Thanks for truly beautiful words to take to heart.

“Be Impeccable”………..

Have taken you and Bry up on the “4 Agreements”………….

Love It!!!

Heidi

Oh. Ummmm… Does that mean I've ruined my kids for life by saying, “Whichever one of you kills the other will go to jail, and then I can live my life in peace!!!. Actually, I didn't say it, I shouted it.  After I cooled off, I told them that it wasn't true, that I wouldn't have any peace if I lost my kids. They just smiled at me and shook their heads. That was a while ago, and now it's a sort of twisted inside joke at our house.  I guess we're doomed.

Lol Diane…….was this about the same time that you wrote about your kids fighting driving you nutty?

Heidi

No, I think it was about a year and a half ago. As you can see by the fact that they still fight and it still drives me crazy, my parenting method was oh, so effective! <rolling eyes>. 

Well to rhyme in with Wil………….Right “NOW”(Tolle)…………I am trying to be “Impeccable With My Word” (Miguel Ruiz?)

I keep having to bite my tongue……

Yes I agree, Heidi! That agreement (isn't it the first?) is not easy! I'm not one to think much before I open my mouth, but I'm getting better! If I'm being drawn into a conversation about someone who isn't present, I try to pretend they are so that everything I say is something they would accept hearing, and when I am speaking to someone about something I've done or listening to what they have to say about what they've done, I resist negativity!! 'T'aint always easy!! I'm kinda critical, you see. (Was that negative? Was most of this comment negative? Uh-oh.)

I have been carrying the “The 4” around with me everywhere, either in the car or in my purse.  That means I must like it!  Anywho, I am a limited time kinda person and by the time I get home and get things done, lay down and try to read…….I am sleeping half way through the second page.  So I try to get a glimpse of it waiting at the docs office, waiting on kids in the car and I love to read at a park for lunch.

Anywho yes here it is:

Agreement #1:  Be Impeccable With Your Word
Agreement #2:  Don't Take Anything Personally
Agreement #3:  Don't Make Assumptions
Agreement #4:  Always Do Your Best

Now these agreements I guess you could say “ya well those sound like no-brainers” anyone could tell you that.  However the way Ruiz delivers this information, the simple common sense, the Toltec wisdom, and the over-all gentleness of his words and message combined make it very understandable……not for “rocket scientists” only.

Reading it is like bricks being lifted off my shoulders slowly and while trying to practice it as well I continue to feel more relief.

From the book:  “But there is really no reason to suffer.  The only reason you suffer is because you choose to suffer.  If you look at your life you will find many excuses to suffer, but a good reason to suffer you will not find.  The same is true for happiness.  The only reason you are happy is because you choose to be happy.  Happiness is a choice, and so is suffering.” 

“You can be loving all the time.  This is your choice.  You may not have a reason to love, but you can love because to love makes you so happy.  Love in action only produces happiness.  Love will give you inner peace.  It will change your perception of everything.”

 Don Miguel Ruiz

Very good. I have the book too, and the fact that its small makes it easy to carry around. “Don't take anything personally,” is such a great one. It's the one my son has the most trouble with, and I chalk that up to his youth. At his age, what other people think is “really* important to him. He's read it and he knows that what people say to him is their own problem and is only his problem if he chooses it to be. I love the point Ruiz makes, that people say you're a terrible person one day when they are angry with you, and the next day, when they've gotten over it, they say you're a great person. Obviously, what they think is not really you. It's their own image, and therefore their own problem.

So really, it's up to each of us not to “own” the hurtful things people say to us, as well as not to hurl hurtful things at others. I guess we can't expect young children to understand the first part, which is why this thread started in the first place, right?! Still, there is a lot our kids can learn from the four agreements, when they are ready.

Diane,

For sure…..loved that part of the book too.  Especially the  “liking you when they are happy and not liking you when they are angry” thing………..it was one of those thing where you go “haye……..wow……..he's got a point there!”

I have owned hurtful things done and said to me for way toooo long………time to give up ownership :-)

And your son has already read it too?  That is awesome!!!  And good news……….what if everyone had a copy of “The 4” in their car, pocket or purse?  For that matter ………WHAT IF EVERYONE WAS IMPECCABLE WITH THEIR WORD?  Would be awesome haye?

Great moms give their sons great things to read!!!!!  But you don't have to own my words about you being great………you already know you are :-)

Heidi

Wil,

Tolle's “A New Earth” ????  I was reading up on that a bit a few months ago.  That is the “Power of Now” sequel?  I havn't even gotten through “Now” yet.  I love the book, but it hasn't been as easy for me to read.  I totally get living for the Now……but then he gets me a lil lost on some of the other stuff.  I think that is what I read about “A New Earth”  that it was fintuned to reach more people and perhaps…..simplified a bit?

I am not going to make the assumption that you think I am dumb if I can't even understand “NOW” and if you do I won't take it personal………and I am going to be impeccable with my word to myself and not call myself stupid :-)  and then I will move on and do my best to try and read A New Earth……..when I am done with The 4 :-)

Peace……Heidi

Hey Wil,

Amen! 

A blog which should be included in a handbook somewhere.

:)

Excellent!

Nicole

Wil thanks for this great blog. And Heidi, if you read this, glad to hear “The 4” is making such an impact. It made an impact on me, especially #1 and #2. And I say that impeccably. :-)

Haven't read Tolle's New Earth. Looks intriguing. Thanks for the mention…

Peace,

B