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Words have power. Not the words others say to us – we actually have the ability to filter out anything off-putting or hurtful and prevent them from having a negative impact on us. Even those positive expressions others convey to us can have little or no effect. One may receive a compliment only to dismiss it. “You look wonderful!” “No I don’t. I look awful!” We write off the other party as insincere.
More importantly than what others say to us is what we say to ourselves: our internal voice; that little noise in our heads that never shuts up. All day, all night – it talks incessantly. Sometimes it’s helpful and tells us things that benefit us such as “you can do this” or “today is going to be awesome.” At times, our internal voice prevents us from getting into trouble: “you know you’re not supposed to do that. You’ll ruin everything.” There are incidences when it can actually rectify a bad situation we‘ve crafted: “tell her you’re sorry you were rude and insensitive. She deserves better than that.”
Our IV can be our best friend or worst enemy, helping us move our lives forward, become better people and achieve great accomplishments. Or it can hinder our success and happiness by filling our heads with thoughts of pessimism, fear, hate or selfishness. The blessing or curse of our IV is that whatever we say to ourselves actually generates how we feel. And our feelings are what propel us to make decisions in life. “I am excited about going back to school and getting my degree!” “I love taking care of my elderly dad. I feel good knowing he’s getting the best care possible.” We all have a combination of both positive and negative voices in our head which is healthy. As long as the positive outweigh the negative we are generally fine.
However, there are three small (yet powerful) words that are our deadliest enemy. Responsible for more devastation, suffering, ruin and failure, these words can destroy even the most commanding. They are “I don’t care.”
“I don’t care” is responsible for hurt feelings (“I don’t care what he thinks. I’m going to put him in his place once and for all.”), health problems (“I don’t care if smoking is unhealthy. I enjoy it.”), damaged relationships (“I don’t care if she likes it or not. She deserves what’s coming to her!”), depression “(I don’t care about finding a job. I’ve tried everything and nothing’s working.”), suicide (“I don’t care about myself. I have no value and no one loves me anyway.”), violence (“I don’t care if someone gets killed.”) And so much more.
“I don’t care”: three little words that lead to apathy – lack of feeling, without emotion, without motivation or reason. Apathy is our worst enemy for when one looses feeling and interest there is no effort made. Without effort progress is not forthcoming and we remain stuck in an unhealthy place of self-pity and despair. Feelings monitor our behavior and keep us on the path of rightfulness.
The antidote to apathy is concern – concern for our own well-being and the feelings and well-being of others. Only when our internal voice engenders caring thoughts that direct our behavior will we find ourselves on the path to a life of abundance.