Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about the link between the words we use and the way we experience life. So language is a vehicle for expressing ourselves to others, but of course, we also speak to ourselves all the time in our own mind as well. And what we often don't realize as we speak to ourselves and others is the really significant impacts of the specific words that we choose to use. Our words shape how we feel and how we perceive the world around us in really powerful ways.

Each word we use is permeated with personal meaning and associations and potentially loaded with a motive potential. So just changing a few words in a sentence can shift things in a really big way. For example, if you say I'm absolutely furious at her for her incompetence. It's really different to how it makes you feel if you say, I'm feeling a bit peeved right now, because she made a mistake today. Right? If you say something like I'm really anxious about this thing.

That's really different to how you feel when you say, I'm a little concerned. Saying you feel devastated when something doesn't go your way is very different to saying you're a little bit bummed out. Now, is that just an Aussie thing to say? It's like saying oh, bummer, you're a little bummed out. So here you are, same situation, different language. And when you use different words, you can feel totally different emotions and actually have very different perceptions of things.

So here are two tips for how you can change your words in really helpful ways. The first tip is to soften harsh words. Begin to pay attention to any words that you might be using that overstate or ramp up the intensity of emotions that you might be feeling or really exaggerate descriptions of events or people. See if you can deliberately pick words that lower emotional charge and potential for reactivity. For example, instead of saying you hate someone or something.

You describe yourself as being a little bit disappointed with them. Instead of saying something is a disaster, try saying things are a little tricky right now. This applies to words that you say out loud, as well as the ones you say mentally. Second tip, deliberately use words and a tone that are really compassionate, uplifting, and encouraging where possible. Especially if you're a person that has a really harsh inner critic, try applying these into your internal dialogue.

So, whereas before you might've made a mistake and said to yourself, something like, oh, you idiot. Try something like, we got this. Let's try again tomorrow. Well, you know, this is an example I use a lot, you wake up in the morning and it's raining instead of saying, oh, what a horrible day, say, gosh, I'm so grateful for all this abundance filling our water tanks and growing our food. Now I know this might sound overly simplistic, but changing the words you use can actually have a profound impact on the quality of your life.

So this is the invitation for practice today. See how you can change your words and see how that changes your world. As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And let's now settle in for today's meditation.