Remember the childhood saying: “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me?” I couldn’t disagree more! Words are powerful. Words can be used to harm or to heal. “The pen is mightier than the sword,” is an old reminder. Words have weight. They carry the weight of thoughts, emotions and physical tension in our bodies. If we’re not careful we can sentence ourselves (or others) to a secret prison of chronic physical and mental limitations by the words we choose to use, or lose.
Take for example the common words easy and hard. When we think easy, our bodies feel more at ease, and when we think hard, we feel more tension, which can limit our potential. Remember when you were first learning how to drive, it seemed so hard, but of course it was just: unfamiliar. When we observe our physical reaction to hard our bodies reflexively tense up reinforcing our perception that it’s difficult.
When we consciously substitute a word like unfamiliar instead of hard, our bodies release more tension, and the doors of possibility begin to open a little wider.