Positive Attitude And Words: An Important Relationship
Discover how having a positive attitude and words that you choose to say are deeply related
The words that you choose to say at any moment help to determine your attitude to life and help shape the reality that you experience.
See, words work as symbols, and all symbols carry a certain magic with them. We ascribe certain connotations to each word and group of words, and we evoke those connotations when we use those words.
Pay attention
Have you ever stopped to listen to the words you say?
The following are examples of sentences we may just say without paying much attention:
"I know the parking lot will be full"
"It's so difficult to deal with that person"
"You cannot find a spot at the coffee shop at this time of the day"
"These meetings only mean more problems for our department"
Although none of those sentences are terribly upsetting per se, they do carry a pessimistic point of view. They focus on problems, can'ts, obstacles, difficulties. They may even create some anxiety in the listener, whose attention is brought to 'what's not possible'.
Better-feeling words for better-feeling experiences
So what could you do, in order to benefit the most from using words?
Easy: choose to use words that express what you want, rather than what you don't want. Positive attitude and words are connected, so choose to say those words that will contribute to creating a positive attitude.
"Marvelous"
I once worked with someone who, when asked "How are you?", would invariably respond "Marvelous". And so what if he wasn't actually feeling that marvellous? Such a bright answer already created a positive impression on the listener and a positive feeling.
Now compare that to the answer I heard from someone else: "Not too bad". Not too bad? That immediately makes me feel that things ARE somehow bad! What do you choose to answer when you are asked "How are you?"
A short story on positive attitude and words
Check how the words we say help to shape our attitudes and experiences, through this real life story...
When I was in my twenties I went out once to have dinner with my partner at the time and a friend of both. We wanted to go to a restaurant where they served the best burgers in town. The restaurant was barely a hundred meters away from a football stadium.
As we walked towards the restaurant, we noticed more and more people walking in the same direction we were going. My partner said, "I hope there isn't a football match today!"
It turned out that there was in fact a football match starting shortly. This meant that we would probably not find a table at the restaurant, since it was quite a small place, and quite convenient for anyone to have a burger on-the-go.
Conscious of the power of our words, my partner and I decided to express what we DID want. "We will have a table, in a nice spot, and we will have it straight away", we said believing that this would be the case (why not).
When we arrived at the restaurant, there was only one table available, next to the window, in one of the two nicest spots of the restaurant. Needless to say, we took the table and marvelled at how we had had exactly what we had chosen to put into words.
We create our own reality
My personal belief is that we are actually creating our reality at every moment. I won't go into exactly how I think that happens just here, but suffice to say that the ultimate 'truth', for me, is that whatever truth each of us has is what goes. There are as many truths as people, and no truth is more or less 'real' than the next.
Thus for me positive attitude and words are deeply related and of great importance, as I am literally building my current moment and creating my future, with each word I say.
You can actually run your own experiments to see if/how the words that you use have an impact on your experience of life - that is fun, now! :)
For instance, you could choose to take a few minutes in the morning to 'declare' the type of day that you would like to have. You could pretend that you are a queen/king and that you are issuing an actual command; you could end your statement by saying "Hereby I sign the above instructions, and so be it". Check how your day reflected your words before going to sleep.
Positive attitude and words are related, and you will likely find yourself feeling quite uplifted and optimistic after you simply say aloud a few good-feeling words. Choose your words wisely!
"Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another."
Napoleon Hill