Actions speak louder than words – which means what you do is more significant than what you say. However, what if what you say is not consistent with what you do? What if what you are saying is the exact opposite of what you do? You could be doing all the right things, but how often have you seen that your words have gotten you into trouble although you had extremely well-meaning actions/intentions?
In line with this is the other saying – Pen is mightier than the sword – One of the interpretations of this is that words can hurt more than stabbing with a sword. Let’s explore how.
Apparently, there’s a certain tribe in Solomon Islands, where if they want to kill a tree all they do is curse it for 30 days and the tree somehow dies on its own with all the negative energy. On the other hand, there is a beautiful practice in an African tribe where if someone does something harmful, they take the person to the center of the village and tell him all the good things he has done in the past. This helps the person remember the truth of his inner goodness which he had been temporarily disconnected. Click here to read more.
It has been found that even water responds to words. Imagine if 70-80% of our body is comprised of water and if we are using a lot of negative words and anger, that much part of our body gets affected by it.
Why waste all the vocabulary we know in communicating things that don’t add any value and also negate the value of our actions? The only control for a verbal diarrhea is within self – Being aware – Pausing for a split second before speaking. Putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes and thinking how we would feel if they were to use the kind of words we are planning to use. If we say something inappropriate, let’s be quick to apologize and learn. If we repeat the same mistakes, we may not expect to be forgiven always.
If you can align your actions to your intent, why not go one step further and align your words too. Actions anyways take more effort than words. Then why not put in a little more to watch the words and align them accordingly? It will surely go a long way in enhancing the quality of your relationship too. Rather than saying and expecting forgiveness, if we don’t mean something, then let’s not say it. Why hurt a person with words while trying to save them through our actions? We all use our five senses – so telling someone, “Don’t hear what I am saying, but only see what I am doing”, may be irrational. On the other hand, it’s just so wonderful when caring actions are followed by respectful words.