The Hindu Business Line : Wasted words throw away power

When someone at work is obviously depressed or upset, do you simply pass by? Please don’t, says Mary T. Browne in ‘The 5 Rules of Thought’ ( www.landmarkonthenet.com ). “Say something,” she advises.

“You don’t have to interfere in something that may not be any of your business. Just send a good thought and say, ‘Hello’ or ‘Can I help you?’” Reason: These words of encouragement or help ‘vibrate with positive force.’ Unkind words can devastate people or cause them to be disheartened or offended, cautions Browne.

“Wasted words are a misuse of vital force. This throws away power. Energy is a sacred commodity and should be preserved. When we squander our energy we don’t have enough when we need it… The only way to preserve our energy is to watch our words.”

So many of our personal relationships are destroyed because of the way we speak to each other, rues the author. “Prepare your speech,” she advises. “We often speak with no preparation that results in thoughtless words.”

Rude, abrupt, mean, harsh, nasty, or crude remarks have harmful effects, explains Browne. “When combined with the speaker’s tone of voice, they create discordant vibrations. These thoughtless words live long after they are spoken and affect everyone within hearing distance.” She mentions as examples what we ubiquitously find: such as bosses who are rude or abrupt to employees in the morning and thus set the tone of the office for the whole day; and how ‘an upbeat, happy greeting can get the staff in a positive frame of mind resulting in a productive workday.’ More powerful than spoken words are the written ones. “If you say something and regret it, you can withdraw it with an apology. It is easy to forget exactly what someone said.” Not so with the written word. It is ‘indelibly imprinted.’

Writing our thoughts down is a way to structure our thinking, the author guides.

“When we write a letter, we usually take more time to compose our thoughts than we do when we make a phone call. That is why people feel letters are special.”

E-mails don’t vibe the same way as written letters, yet they are here to stay, observes Browne. Treat e-mails too, therefore, with the same respect that we give pen and ink, she urges.

The general disregard for capitalisation, punctuation, and spelling in e-mails is often attributed to the pace of our lives, but to the author, these slips reflect ‘thoughtlessness, or even worse, a lack of respect.’ Which explains why ‘many job applications are deleted without further consideration.’

On the positive side, she highlights how the written word can be creative and inspiring. “It can teach, guide, instruct, entertain, and shift our consciousness. It has a huge effect on getting the things that we want.” However, good writing takes focus, patience, and persistence, counsels Browne.

In sum, her message is simple and straight: “Be careful what you think. Be equally careful what you say. Be even more careful what you write.”