Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about the power of the words you use. Now, although we may not pay too much attention to how we speak, our words hold a lot of power, probably a lot more than we realize. Whether we're speaking out loud or whether we're speaking silently to ourselves, our dialogue is constantly shaping the way that we see ourselves, others and the world. Our words have a very powerful impact on our emotional state and on our behaviors.

Now, if we're not careful with the way we formulate our thoughts and our words, we can start to slip into unhelpful habits like being negative, judgemental, pessimistic, or unkind, both with ourselves and with others. So here's a simple example of how powerful our words are. Let's say you miss the train on the way home. Now, on the one hand, you could think to yourself, Ugh, this is a bit of an inconvenience, or you could think to yourself, Ugh, this is a disaster. I'm such an idiot.

Now will those two thoughts affect you differently? You bet they will. Okay. So let's say you have a tricky conversation with someone. You could walk away and think to yourself, or even say to someone, that person is just a jerk or you could think or say, that was a really tough conversation, but I'm sure we'll work it out. Will those two ways with words change how you treat this person and whether you can work things out for the better? 100%.

Words hold power. Words shape perception. And they shape our lives continuously. So my invitation for today is this. Take more care with your words, both within and without, and notice if they contain judgments or lead you to feeling negative, angry, or cause friction between you and others.

If they do, try and see what it's like to swap those disempowering thoughts or words for more empowering ones, more kind, more uplifting ones. So do this as a bit of an experiment today and really tune in and notice the impact when you choose more empowering words. I think you'll find out pretty quickly that the quality of your life will often reflect the quality of your words. That's how powerful your words are. I really hope you enjoy this practice.

And thank you again for doing this inner and outer work in the world and for being a part of this community. So I invite you now to settle in for today's meditation.