Gravity….. Albert Einstein describes it as “a curve in space that wraps around an object.” I’d like to purpose a different perspective of gravity. Shift your thoughts from what you know the definition is and think of it as weight. In a sense it indeed is weight. but what I’m suggesting is rather than thinking of it as something you can’t control and start thinking of it as something you have complete control of. In the form of words. We most certainly can control our words. And when we realize that our words carry their own form of gravity, weight, I’d like to think we’d be much slower to speak and much quicker to listen.
How often do we just say what’s on our mind without a pause to think about how the words we are about to pour out will affect the situation? The person? Ourselves? How often are we told to “speak our minds” or “you do you”? How often do we actually take this not-so-great advice and run full force into word vomiting all over someone for the sake of “speaking our mind”? It’s hard, I know. I’ve word vomited so many times, and regret it immediately most of the time. We can’t keep doing that friends. It’s not healthy or right. We have to learn to pause. Think BEFORE we speak.
The art of pausing and weighing our words is not always easy and not something we can learn overnight. knowing that there is gravity in our words just takes paying attention to our body language and that of others we are speaking to when we speak to them. There is IMMEDIATE weight attached to each and every word that comes out of our mouths. We control what kind of weight, what kind of gravity our words will have. The gravity of words has the power to make or break a relationship, which is why it’s so important to learn how to pause and also to pay attention. To stop and think before blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. Words have the power to hurt and heal. They have the ability to bring chaos or peace into any given situation. Words have GRAVITY!
So, friend, I challenge you to be slow to speak and quick to listen. Not to listen for the sake of responding, but listen for the sake of relationship. Listen for the sake of truly understanding. Our relationships will be better for it!