The young man woke up as sunrise was at its most beautiful. The freshness, the color, the air all said ‘morning.’ Sunset had another look. Another feeling.
After stretching, looking out the window to say ‘good morning’ to what was becoming his favorite tree in the field, he sat on the edge of the bed and thought he would see if it was time to learn. He felt a bit “off," but given all he had been through, he was doing, he felt, remarkably well. Something was not quite ‘right’.
He opened the book.
“Words are peculiar things. Please note that I call them ‘things’, and not just concepts. I say this because they are much more than letters and symbols. The words are like vessels, which carry a multitude of things — from wine to poison. Like these vessels, words can carry energy of nurturing, or the power to kill.”
“Sadly, many people have been taught the adage, 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. This could be no further from the truth. Words can, indeed, hurt, whether we think them to ourselves or say them to another.”
“While it is true that words, technically, are nothing more than a string of symbols strung together like pearls on a string to make a necklace, to make a sentence. The difficulty with how words are used, however, is that, like that necklace of pearls, they can do anything, from adorn to strangle.”
“A simple example of this is psychosomatic illness.”
“The body is made up of many states of balance. There is hormone balance, chemical balance, emotional balance, etc. The entire world, for that matter, is made up of balances. Day and night, seasons, etc., are all examples of this balance. This balance of health, relating to the human physical body, is vital in keeping it healthy and in good working condition. Imagine the total in this formula of “balance” is 100. Ideally, emotional weight/value is 50, and physical weight/value is 50. When the emotional state feels emotional stress, the emotional value rises. If the emotional value, for example, goes up to 80 due to resisting an emotional situation (job, relationship, school, whatever), the physical value only has a value of 20.”
“This means that the physical body is weakened, so one opens up one’s chances to getting sick. According to some physicians, this influences ALL diseases. Because of some form of emotional/mental stress, one weakens the body, and therefore, the body gets sick, or catches ‘disease’. One possible example of this would be two people who smoke heavily. One person can smoke until they are in their early 100s and not be sick a day in their lives. Another, due to emotional stress or resistance, will get sick quickly or often. This MAY account for the reasoning why some will come down with various forms of cancer, as one example. The symbolic representation of cancer is in the way it operates. The cancer cells (misbehaving cells) attack the host body, eating away at it. This is similar to the emotions ‘eating away’ at someone. Please remember that these are “maybe” situations. I have seen no medical studies on this issue, as I do not read, anyway.”
“Remember, I am a bear of the teddy type! I just see these things in the people with whom I love or have loved before they have died or moved on.”
“Let’s break down the word ‘psychosomatic’. Psycho = brain/ thought - Soma = body Put simply, psychosomatic means ‘relating to the connection between brain/thought and body.’ A simple example of psychosomatic illness might be a duodenal ulcer. Due to a particular state of thinking, usually stress, an excess of hydrochloric acid (stomach acid/digestive juices) is created. This acid eats away, slowly, at the mucus lining of the duodenum, until a small abscess is created. This little spot of red, which gives many a very sharp pain in the “stomach” when hungry, can, if prolonged and untreated, lead to bleeding, and if not careful, death. Now, please note that I said that it is caused by a state of thinking. This is the brain/body connection in simple terms. While there is evidence that some ulcers are related to a bacteria, without the ‘worry,' the ulcer would not appear as often.”
“Now, you are asking yourself what this has to do with words. Simply put, look at what the English language has done to create this condition. People are known to say, “I can’t ‘stomach’ my job” or “I can’t ‘stomach’ my relationship with xxxx.” The body, while brilliant in keeping itself going, healing it every moment of every day of life, replacing old cells with new, does, however, listen to what the brain says. It hears “can’t stomach," and reacts, most simply. It tells the stomach that something is wrong, and so the stomach gets ‘sick’.”
“A few other examples of this brain/body connection in regard to psychosomatic illness include, “I can’t handle xxx” — leading to Arthritis in the hands. “XXX is eating away at me” creates the immune system to, what autoimmune diseases, like Lupus, many cancers, and many, many others. Look at the posture of the person who is “carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.” They, many times, will have stooped shoulders, an arched back which, many times, creates the condition of the osteoporotic “hump” of the back.” else, eat away at itself, hence other various forms of Arthritis, Systemic
“On the other side of the proverbial coin, look at those who are in love. Those who get hugs every day have a more balanced immune system, therefore profession. Their healthy, happy, wonderful condition. Happy people, even if they have gone through extremely difficult times, if they appreciate their own life and live fully with ‘thankfulness’, will live much longer than those who are “just getting by.” are sick much less than others in the same thinking of how ‘wonderful life is’ creates a “Children, who are basically born healthy, without the toxins of negative thought, learn quickly from those around them how to become sick by the words spoken to the child. A child, no matter how intelligent he or she may be, if told enough times by someone of authority, will fail miserably in any and all exams, professions, any major attempts at accomplishment — all because of the misuse of the gift of words. How sad.”
“This concept of using words goes equally well with the idea of receiving these words as well. If you hear words of “harm” aimed at you, you have the choice and the responsibility to handle it accordingly. Do you want to be healthy? Why would you want to be around those who throw darts of poison at you, then? Do you want to be happy? Why be around those who are chronic complainers? In the “natural world” of science, one finds that opposites attract. However, there are many times in life where it is just the opposite of that — where likes also attract. Happy people attract happy people. Successful people attract successful people. What you think, you become.”
“Which do you want? The choice is yours. Do you wish to live a healthy life? Do you wish for others to be healthy and happy? Please choose your words wisely. The choice is, as it always is, yours and yours alone.”