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THE POWER OF WORDS

Jayne Johnson contributed this article to The Spirit of Water after she had purchased Water Blessing Labels. We are grateful for her insights and willingness to share them with us.

Jayne’s perspective is that practical knowledge and spiritual wisdom have many sources and over 33 years has studied a wide variety of resources, including the works of Napoleon Hill, Deepak Chopra, Joseph Campbell, R. Buckminster Fuller, Wayne Dyer, Paul Brenner, M.D., Marianne Williamson, Rev. Terry Cole-Whittaker, and Earl Nightingale, to name just a few.

You can contact her at: The Clearing Sight

I first saw the movie " What the Bleep Do We Know? " in December 2004. I loved the entire movie and was particularly enthralled with the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto.

To see the photographs of water crystals and the impact a positive or negative message had on them was phenomenal! It was a vivid, visual experience of an ancient concept -- that our words and thoughts are powerful beyond measure and that they literally can create our reality.

What's so great is that it's easy to apply what we learned from Dr. Emoto. For example you could put drinking water into glass containers -- not plastic but real glass -- and on each container write positive words. Why not have the drinking water be full of beautiful water crystals and positive energy?!

What I love about Dr. Emoto's work is that it brings our awareness pointedly to this concept -- that what we say and also what we think produce enormous effects. This awareness is so valuable because it paves the way for us to follow up with actions to improve our lives, the lives of those around us, and the world at large, simply by being more mindful of what we're thinking or what we're expressing at any given time.

One of the major points I make in my Goals Workshops is that of being precise and specific when expressing and writing down goals. The more specific you are, the more the mind understands what you want and sets out to provide it for you. This principle is not limited to goal-setting, obviously. To be conscious of what we are saying -- to be aware of and precise about all our communications, be it about our goals, what we're thinking, or how we're feeling -- is of tremendous value at any given time.

By the same token, it can be incredibly easy to think or speak negatively without even realizing it.

Take for example the many common expressions in the English language that, when inspected carefully, can really surprise you!

Some examples: Sick and tired of this, Lost without you, Love her to pieces, Love him to death, That joke killed me, Can't live without you, You can't win for losing, Scared to death, Starving to death, That exam was murder, Dying of the heat, Freezing to death, Over my dead body, This --------- is driving me crazy .

Very negative statements! Have you thought of some more? Once you put some attention on this, it's easy to start noticing them in every day life.

Another example -- expressions like, "Well, I'll be damned" or "Damn you." In the former we are cursing ourselves, and in the latter we are cursing others. Wait a minute! What are we doing?! Most people will say, " I didn't mean it literally " or " Oh, I was only joking ." I'm not sure that it matters. Those words went out into the universe. Where did they land? What effect do they create?

Recently I saw a car license plate that read, "Dam it." OK, someone paid extra money for a vanity plate that says dam it . Wow.

I think these kinds of things can happen because using a familiar expression is like being on automatic pilot. Instead of having to think about what we want to say and how to express it precisely, the mind automatically reaches for the most accessible thought, which then gets communicated. That process can easily take less than a second. If you've ever said anything that you regretted the moment it came out of your mouth, you understand this.

Dr. Emoto has shown us what words can do to a simple element like water. If they can do that to water, what are they doing to us?!

Every word, expressed or merely thought but not spoken, has the potential to create a result, either positive or negative, in the physical realm. The very old expression, " The pen is mightier than the sword " certainly applies.

Words can also program the mind and affect our thoughts, emotions and behaviors. When the words evoke or are associated with some picture in the mind, they will typically have an even stronger influence; that is, any mental picture accompanying a word or thought makes it much more powerful.

This is the power behind television advertising. It's also the power of our own minds. Think of the word "friend." Next in your mind might appear a mental image of a treasured friend of yours. Notice how the mental vision of your friend increases the impact and meaning of the word "friend" immediately. Without launching into examples, you realize how a negative word accompanied by a negative mental vision can produce the same result, i.e., increased impact of the negative word.

The good news is this. Dr. Emoto's photographs in the movie show both positive and negative effects, and this principle applies to the mind as well. We can create positive words, thoughts and visions of what we DO want!

To do that, we first need to be aware of how we are programming our minds and what we are "proclaiming" to the universe, especially when doing it repetitively. "Repetitively" doesn't just mean verbally saying a word or an expression often. Some song lyrics are very negative -- you may not sing them aloud but they can still roll around in your mind for hours or days!

Awareness is really the key here, as it is in life in general. If you are present in the here & now and fully aware of what you're thinking and/or expressing, then ideally you are taking responsibility for what you are putting out into the world. That is a more powerful position, a position of choice, rather than being on automatic pilot.

Caveat -- a pitfall is to become overly analytical and get caught in the trap of monitoring every single word and getting embroiled in the words. Being fanatic about it is really just another form of being on automatic pilot.

Here's an example of what I mean. Back in the 70's I attended a seminar in which all the participants were instructed about the word "but." It was a no-no to say it because it meant an excuse (or a lie, or a bogus justification) would follow it.

Examples : " I want to lose weight but I don't have time to exercise. " "I want to .... but I can't...." Etc.

While the point itself was well-taken, i.e., be honest with yourself instead of making excuses, everyone I knew stopped using the word "but" altogether. And when they would slip and say it, which was inevitable, then they'd get flustered and correct themselves instantly. That self-correcting was automatic : "Uh-oh! Can't say 'but';" in other words, there was no awareness there. Only the automatic response of don't ever say "but" ! In later (wiser) years, I realized it's OK to use the word "but" -- the word "but" can be used and the earth will continue to spin on its axis. What a concept!

Your true power lies in your ability to be aware and observe, from a neutral position. Awareness gives you the power to choose because it turns off the automatic pilot function. Then YOU are in charge, not a mind-software program!

Thanks to Dr. Emoto's brilliant research and body of work, we have been given such a valuable gift. Through the water crystals a very empowering concept is being reinforced and enhanced -- that our thoughts and words can have a powerful effect on multiple levels - the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

It is up to us to come from that place of truth, i.e., our own inner beauty and perfection. From there, positive words and thoughts flow as a natural result. Then there is no effort to think positively or speak positively. Those are just the natural consequences of BEING who you truly are.