{"id":926,"date":"2013-09-19T00:57:23","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T00:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/?p=926"},"modified":"2013-09-19T01:08:33","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T01:08:33","slug":"words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/words\/","title":{"rendered":"Words."},"content":{"rendered":"

Words are very powerful.\u00a0 They can tear you down, build you up, and even convince you to do some crazy things.\u00a0 Within my\u00a0 Servant Leadership Masters program, we talk a LOT about awareness.\u00a0\u00a0 Being aware of your thoughts and how they affect you.\u00a0 Being aware of how you present yourself and what you say.\u00a0 And most importantly, being aware of others around you and their non-verbal communication.\u00a0 We have done SO much reading, writing and exercises on this topic it is almost overkill.\u00a0 BUT, in the past year, I have felt so much more aware to the point where it is disturbing.\u00a0 No joke, I feel like I have an extra spidey sense or something.\u00a0 I have always felt that I am a pretty aware person, but this program has really taken me to a whole new level.\u00a0 What does this have to do with anything?<\/p>\n

Well,\u00a0 in my upgraded awareness I have picked up on things that really just plain bother me. \u00a0 I almost wish I could\u00a0 UN-notice them, but I know it is an incredibly useful tool for helping others,\u00a0 so I need to suck it up. \u00a0 I notice the presence of my thoughts and feelings more than ever before, I notice when others stop listening, when they are about to interrupt,\u00a0 when they are feeling upset or uncomfortable, the change in body movement when something sensitive is brought up, I notice so much more about myself and others.<\/p>\n

\"words2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have also noticed that those who seem to not be very self-aware at all, are more likely to use words without thinking.\u00a0 We have all been there.\u00a0 Caught up in our emotions and in the moment, we say negative things, we send that email that maybe we shouldn’t have,\u00a0 or we vent to somebody we shouldn’t.\u00a0\u00a0 There has been some recent events at AU, that have caused many students to be upset.\u00a0 So instead of voicing their opinion in a productive and respectful way, they have been filling up their Twitter and Facebook feeds with awful, terrible words.\u00a0 I monitor student social media to make sure my student ambassadors are not taking part in negative banter about the school, so if it were up to me I would ignore it all together, but I cannot.\u00a0\u00a0 I think many in the younger generation don’t quite understand that words are now more powerful than ever before.\u00a0 They\u00a0 will forever follow us on places like Facebook and Twitter.\u00a0 I cannot help but be saddened by how these students portray themselves to their peers, future employers etc.<\/p>\n

It is not just on social media of course. \u00a0 I witness the poor use of words\u00a0 in my family, in my work place, among my friends and even I am guilty myself in my own relationship.\u00a0 Why are we so quick to be mean?\u00a0 Why do we use our words to hurt?\u00a0 Does it make us feel better about ourselves? Why are we not more careful when we speak to others?<\/p>\n

This could be in the form of an email at work sent behind somebody’s back, instead of confronting them.\u00a0 This could be office banter to talk negatively about another co-worker.\u00a0 This could be saying negative statements about a friend to another friend.\u00a0 Or maybe it is just raising your voice or using a disrespectful tone.\u00a0 Doesn’t matter what it is, it is not okay.<\/p>\n

\"words\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Speak up, but speak kindly and genuinely.\u00a0 It is true that sometimes words that need to be said still hurt, but that doesn’t mean you cannot be respectful about them. It does not matter how frustrated you are, how enraged you are, posting hurtful words on social media, in an email or blurting them out before thinking can have an incredibly everlasting effect.\u00a0 Our words should inspire, educate, motivate…not destroy others.<\/p>\n

You may say your words quickly and never think of them again, but their effect will last forever.\u00a0 Whether that is good or bad, is entirely up to you.\u00a0 Choose your words wisely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Words are very powerful.\u00a0 They can tear you down, build you up, and even convince you to do some crazy things.\u00a0 Within my\u00a0 Servant Leadership Masters program, we talk a LOT about awareness.\u00a0\u00a0 Being aware of your thoughts and how they affect you.\u00a0 Being aware of how you present yourself and what you say.\u00a0 And most importantly, being aware of others around you and their non-verbal communication.\u00a0 We have done SO much reading, writing and exercises on this topic it is almost overkill.\u00a0 BUT, in the past year, I have felt so much more aware to the point where it is disturbing.\u00a0 No joke, I feel like I have an extra spidey sense or something.\u00a0 I have always felt that I am a pretty aware person, but this program has really taken me to a whole new level.\u00a0 What does this have to do with anything? Well,\u00a0 in my upgraded awareness I have picked up on things that really just plain bother me. \u00a0 I almost wish I could\u00a0 UN-notice them, but I know it is an incredibly useful tool for helping others,\u00a0 so I need to suck it up. \u00a0 I notice the presence of my thoughts and feelings more than ever before, I notice when others stop listening, when they are about to interrupt,\u00a0 when they are feeling upset or uncomfortable, the change in body movement when something sensitive is brought up, I notice so much more about myself and others. I have also noticed that those who seem to not be very self-aware at all, are more likely to use words without thinking.\u00a0 We have all been there.\u00a0 Caught up in our emotions and in the moment, we say negative things, we send that email that maybe we shouldn’t have,\u00a0 or we vent to somebody we shouldn’t.\u00a0\u00a0 There has been some recent events at AU, that have caused many students to be upset.\u00a0 So instead of voicing their opinion in a productive and respectful way, they have been filling up their Twitter and Facebook feeds with awful, terrible words.\u00a0 I monitor student social media to make sure my student ambassadors are not taking part in negative banter about the school, so if it were up to me I would ignore it all together, but I cannot.\u00a0\u00a0 I think many in the younger generation don’t quite understand that words are now more powerful than ever before.\u00a0 They\u00a0 will forever follow us on places like Facebook and Twitter.\u00a0 I cannot help but be saddened by how these students portray themselves to their peers, future employers etc. It is not just on social media of course. \u00a0 I witness the poor use of words\u00a0 in my family, in my work place, among my friends and even I am guilty myself in my own relationship.\u00a0 Why are we so quick to be mean?\u00a0 Why do we use our words to hurt?\u00a0 Does it make us feel better about ourselves? Why are we not more careful when we speak to others? This could be in the form of an email at work sent behind somebody’s back, instead of confronting them.\u00a0 This could be office banter to talk negatively about another co-worker.\u00a0 This could be saying negative statements about a friend to another friend.\u00a0 Or maybe it is just raising your voice or using a disrespectful tone.\u00a0 Doesn’t matter what it is, it is not okay. Speak up, but speak kindly and genuinely.\u00a0 It is true that sometimes words that need to be said still hurt, but that doesn’t mean you cannot be respectful about them. It does not matter how frustrated you are, how enraged you are, posting hurtful words on social media, in an email or blurting them out before thinking can have an incredibly everlasting effect.\u00a0 Our words should inspire, educate, motivate…not destroy others. You may say your words quickly and never think of them again, but their effect will last forever.\u00a0 Whether that is good or bad, is entirely up to you.\u00a0 Choose your words wisely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":933,"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926\/revisions\/933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blessedinthemess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}