...are written on the wind
...are meaningless
...actions speak louder than
...there's no use talking at all!
All of those are true. There is no doubt about that.
However, the right word in the right ear at the right time can - and already has - change your life!
Don't believe me? Think about this. You got that job because of something you said during the interview, or something someone else said about you. It's the same reason you lost that job.
You dated that boy because of something he said to you in the beginning. Don't believe me? When the relationship ends and you are sobbing hysterically, what are you always sobbing? "He said...he loved me/he would never leave me/he would never cheat...." whatever, he said it and you believed it and now you remember those words, don't you?
Who would argue that the phrase "I've been thinking" strikes terror into the heart of everyone, double that when it's followed by "We need to talk?" Shudder.
Words are nasty little unpredictable buggers. That's why spin doctors have jobs. They can control the fallout from those damnable words. That skill is worth it's weight in gold (if it had weight) which is good because that is about what they earn. It's completely worth it.
My words have power. Yes, we have just established that everyone's do, but mine in particular. Specifically when composed into this exact phrase: "Wouldn't it be funny if...?"
I first noticed this phenomenon when I was in High School. Without fail, whatever I thought would be "funny" occurred, to the letter, as described. As I got older the trend continued, and yes thinking that phrase counts. By the time I hit 25 that was a phrase I just never used. Ever. Hearing it slip past my lips was enough to make me stop dead in my tracks and sigh with heavy dread and good reason.
That trend continues to this day.
You know what I've noticed? Very rarely do you ever think it would actually be "funny." Usually "whatever" you are thinking of is ironic at least, embarrassing at most.
For me, it's become revealing that "whatever" is usually positive - extremely positive - but ironic, embarrassing and scary. More often than not my sighs are followed by a slow, giant grin as I realize I have just prognosticated my own success - albeit in my own typically clumsy way.
I don't know if this is the same with everyone. It never occurred to me to ask until this very second. I also don't know if by uttering such phrases you change your fate or merely realize it. What I do know is the relationship between cause and effect, and that words are the key to this phenomenon.
Yes, words are very, very powerful, and this power is nothing to be trifled with.
You know what else I've noticed? Clumsy is endearing.
