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| Our speech can be likened to our diets. |
The amount of words spoken each day, in each city, in each part of the world has to be one of the largest and most unmeasurable statistics there is. We communicate through the spoken word and have come to evolve our language to express detail and impactful thoughts and emotions. We've come to understand how to convey numbers so large that only characters and letters could comprehend their mass. We've expressed love, hate, struggle and betrayal all with the finesse of the written and spoken word. So, what we ingest through the written and spoken word could also impact us, just as what we take in through our diet could. Both yielding results that are representative of what we've taken in.
With Dr. Angelou's theory in mind, which lends to the idea the words are tangible, could we for a moment think of words as fragments of matter that are formed, seasoned, energized and then released into the air around us? With this being so, could words affect us personally? Well, we all know the answer to that, so without going down that road, let's dig a little to see what else we can glean from this idea. We hear the sayings, words hurt, and words sting, we also hear words can up build and words can strengthen. How can letters formed together and expressed through audible sounds create a physical reaction? It would seem Dr. Angelou's theory is no more theory than actuality. If a word could cause pain, just as a strike or internal body malfunction (which are both physical manifestations), then it would be reasonable to assign them a measure of physical property.
For the more versed and well rounded, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." Proverbs 18:21 (NWT). In a simplified way, good and bad words have lasting and serious affects. How impactful, then, are words that strike with the intent to harm? To the contrasting side, how wonderful and appreciative are words that build up? Verbal abuse has often been listed as the one most hurtful and lasting form of abuse. Why? The scour of hurtful words can have lasting and often deep seeded affects on our emotions or psyche. Words can be used as the cheapest, quickest and easily accessible munitions with long range, high impact and devastating outcome. Moreover, words, like bad experiences, are far harder to remove and shape how we engage the world around us.
So, then, what does this have to do with health (which is the premise)? Obesity, is a physical manifestation of more secluded and deeper emotions and thoughts most of the time. Be advised, that there are forms of obesity that have little to do with diet and are results of malfunctioning Thyroids; however, these contribute to a significantly small percentage of the population. In the article Who Is Food? We discussed how food satiates emotional and psychological gaps within us. Some (if not a large number of) these gaps arise from past experiences that have hurt us or caused us to think less of ourselves. Words from a loved one or close friend or spouse could have ignited a poor perception of us in our minds and causes personality traits that could damage our esteem or outlook.
Encouragement, is critical and essential to all of us. Health requires that we are encouraged to forge ahead making decisions that require discipline and confidence. Doctors, nurses, personal trainers, physical therapists, surgeons, public health officials, community health liaisons and many more should be the voice and pillar of encouragement. More than those, are our friends and loved ones, these make up our life and support system. Health is a community effort, especially since disease has a corporate reach. What we say, shows sincerely, what we mean and intend. How vital it is as health professionals, and friends it is to resolve to always up build our colleagues, friends and communities to achieve the best or the most good we can. Our speech is one of the few things we can control, and yet it is one of the many things we allow to spew forth discouragement, disdain and separations.
Mental health, and community health relies on our ability to speak in a way, and work in a way that implies our endearment for better. Inconsistency in our speech could convey inconsistencies on our abilities. A healthy mind reflects on what we should say and how we could say it, this being said, let health be a mental attitude as much as a internal one. Happy is healthy, just as confidence is a sign of health as well. Both, are subject to the harms and attacks of someones speech.
In closing, "do not withhold a kind saying, if it is in your power to do so..."
