The realization of what I have done came upon me one late evening as I was listening to a lecture from a trained PhD in Cognitive Psychology. I realized all the negative words I have used on my son from the tender age of five to twelve were words that could have caused him his low self-esteem of himself. I sought to make the change that is to be more cautious in what I said.

Negative words when spoken by an adult to a child cause the words to be embedded in the subconscious mind of the child and hence, this leads to erroneous beliefs the child has about himself or herself. I realized the impact of the spoken words and yet did not fully comprehend the extent the damage it can do to a child until I took a course in learning hypnosis. Hypnosis is the bypass of the critical factor and the establishment of acceptable selective thinking. The important function of the critical factor is that it operates like a filtering mechanism which compares new information coming in from the conscious level of the mind with the old beliefs and perceptions held within the subconscious mind. Through the process of hypnosis, we are able to bypass the critical factor. After we create this bypass, then the subconscious mind achieves a state of heightened suggestibility to help the client move towards positive change and wellness.

With this discovery of the extent of the power of the spoken words, I am now aware how deep an impact my words can be and hence it is important that I think first before I let any negative words out of my mouth whenever there is an issue at hand that we are not pleased with.
Adults that deal with children would be good to be mindful of their words as mentioned, the power of words even though may appear insignificant like stupid, lazy or good for nothing have a great negative impact when impressed on young minds.

It is fine when we uttered out words that are negative and not to beat ourselves in the process of being aware of how we speak. Being conscious that we always give constructive feedback and positive encouragement is good habits to cultivate and we can start right now. We correct the situation by framing what has been said in the negative to a positive such as instead of scolding the child stupid, ask the child, "What do you understand of this?" and if the child does not, proceed to explain in simple words so as the child can understand. Many times, assumptions are made and all these assumptions turned out to be false assumptions.

Adults too are not spared when negative words are said by another and often enough, much hurts is caused and leads to resentment. Eventually this resentment builds up as stress and tension in the person's body and could be the cause of illnesses.

I want to stress the power of words as I now know the deep impact negative words can cause and how positive words can serve to encourage and I choose to encourage and I wish to cultivate this positive trait of encouraging others as well as myself. Being aware of the power of words is the first step to being a better person. You make the choice.

Learn more about this author, Helen Tay.
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