The First Agreement, “Be Impeccable With Your Word”, is a very important and powerful Agreement. There are a few components to this Agreement so, as we move through this week, we’ll look at them.
Words are a gift that only humans have. While other life forms may communicate, we are the only species with the ability to speak. We even have the ability to go further by developing new words (how many are added to the dictionary every year?) and new languages. Pretty impressive.
Through words we express and transmit our truth. Through words we create relationship. Pretty powerful!!
We all know the power of the words. Even one word can change a life - for the positive or negative. Words can uplift someone who is down, create beauty from chaos, provide inspiration, spark confidence, and be an integral part of manifesting our highest goals. There is energy with words. They are power-packed! But how many times have we spoken out of turn, wished we could take words back, threw verbal daggers at another because we were momentarily angry or fearful?
We all have the situation of someone saying something to us that changed at least a part of our life. I have many... many that I carried with me for too long. The unfortunate in this is that many of these words were spoken by those closest to me, the ones that were meant to protect and love me. Cutting right through my heart, some had the ability to completely change my perception of myself - which took me decades to recover from. To this day, the recollection of a few key careless words can still create a heaviness in my heart. I also find that these words changed my relationship with this person, that after all these years and all my work, I still don’t fully trust what this person says to me. I am on guard when we speak and find myself overly sensitive to everything that is said to me. The feeling of not being truly seen and heard reverberates in our relationship. It can feel sad.
This isn’t to say that others are the only ones that have created pain and suffering with words. I’m positive I can join their ranks of being unskillful. For ALL that I’ve caused suffering, I am deeply sorry and regretful.
One important aspect when we look at this Agreement is to keep in mind our intention. Intention plays an important part in communication and how words are transmitted. Our body will follow our heart-mind and our actions will support our intention. With awareness of our communication, we will be able to check in and make sure that our messaging follows our intention. If we intend to speak with love and caring, with an open heart, this is much easier to gauge. If we are in a flurry of anger or anxiety, we can no longer judge what we are doing. Often times in this situation we don’t even realize our intention as we are filled with drama and trauma. Our stress factor has taken over and our ability to self-evaluate is severely diminished. So, the teaching with stress is to STOP and BREATHE before we do anything else.
What action do your words create? What impact have words had in your life? Reflect on this over the next few days and, if you are comfortable, share here. Keep the innocent innocent but take a look at what is said and the impacts produced. Can we speak from a place of Love? Can we stop to reflect on intention before we speak?
In Gratitude and Much Peace,
Shanti
Shanti Douglas
Mindfulness & Stress Management Coach
Shanti@8limbsHolisticHealth.com
603.228.9007
Words are a gift that only humans have. While other life forms may communicate, we are the only species with the ability to speak. We even have the ability to go further by developing new words (how many are added to the dictionary every year?) and new languages. Pretty impressive.
Through words we express and transmit our truth. Through words we create relationship. Pretty powerful!!
We all know the power of the words. Even one word can change a life - for the positive or negative. Words can uplift someone who is down, create beauty from chaos, provide inspiration, spark confidence, and be an integral part of manifesting our highest goals. There is energy with words. They are power-packed! But how many times have we spoken out of turn, wished we could take words back, threw verbal daggers at another because we were momentarily angry or fearful?
We all have the situation of someone saying something to us that changed at least a part of our life. I have many... many that I carried with me for too long. The unfortunate in this is that many of these words were spoken by those closest to me, the ones that were meant to protect and love me. Cutting right through my heart, some had the ability to completely change my perception of myself - which took me decades to recover from. To this day, the recollection of a few key careless words can still create a heaviness in my heart. I also find that these words changed my relationship with this person, that after all these years and all my work, I still don’t fully trust what this person says to me. I am on guard when we speak and find myself overly sensitive to everything that is said to me. The feeling of not being truly seen and heard reverberates in our relationship. It can feel sad.
This isn’t to say that others are the only ones that have created pain and suffering with words. I’m positive I can join their ranks of being unskillful. For ALL that I’ve caused suffering, I am deeply sorry and regretful.
One important aspect when we look at this Agreement is to keep in mind our intention. Intention plays an important part in communication and how words are transmitted. Our body will follow our heart-mind and our actions will support our intention. With awareness of our communication, we will be able to check in and make sure that our messaging follows our intention. If we intend to speak with love and caring, with an open heart, this is much easier to gauge. If we are in a flurry of anger or anxiety, we can no longer judge what we are doing. Often times in this situation we don’t even realize our intention as we are filled with drama and trauma. Our stress factor has taken over and our ability to self-evaluate is severely diminished. So, the teaching with stress is to STOP and BREATHE before we do anything else.
What action do your words create? What impact have words had in your life? Reflect on this over the next few days and, if you are comfortable, share here. Keep the innocent innocent but take a look at what is said and the impacts produced. Can we speak from a place of Love? Can we stop to reflect on intention before we speak?
In Gratitude and Much Peace,
Shanti
Shanti Douglas
Mindfulness & Stress Management Coach
Shanti@8limbsHolisticHealth.com
603.228.9007
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