Our words are powerful and we can use them to bring about a positive change into our lives and those of others by its proper use . By improper use we can do just the opposite.
Many of us use words very casually without any intention. We do not pause before speaking and end up not using the power of words effectively.
We can learn to pause before speaking ( It may not always be possible, but try to practice as much as possible ) and ask ourselves if what we are going to speak is:
T : True?
H : Helpful?
I : Inspiring?
N: Necessary?
K: Kind?
If not, we can refrain from speaking :-)
As you practice pausing before speaking, you will realize that a lot of our conversations are irrelevant and unnecessary, not adding any value to us or the person who we are speaking to. By applying this rule, we will save a lot of energy and also avoid negative conversations that are critical, bring other people down, and are of the nature of gossip.
I invite you to join me in working with our speech. I very well know that it is not easy and can take many many years to master. So what better time to start than now :-)
You can keep a journal to note down how many times you paused and changed your mind about saying something. How often you expressed your appreciation and boosted the morale of people with your words. How often you refrained from critical remarks that brought somebody's self esteem and confidence down?
Jack kornfield wrote in one of his posts which is very relevant to our current post -
" Notice the intentions that motivate your speech. Try to be aware of whether your speech is motivated by boredom, concern, irritation, loneliness, compassion, fear, love, competitiveness, or greed. Try to observe without any judgement. Then, after discovering which motivation is present as you speak, notice the effect of the speech. If there is competitiveness or grasping or pride or irritation behind the speech, what response does it elicit from the world around you? If there is compassion or love, what is the response? If your speech is mindless, as if you are on automatic pilot, what is the response? If there is clarity and concern, how is this received and responded to? "
The above exercise can be a wonderful mindfulness practice and it will really make us more conscious of the impact our words have. Lets start to use our words carefully and create a positive difference to our own lives and those of others lives who we touch with our words.
#consciousliving #practice23 # practicerightspeech
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