Lifting the world with words

My siblings and I joked with each other as our family made its way home across the deserts of southern Arizona. “Look at the sand…. Look at the sky…. Look at my thumb…. Gee you’re dumb!”

Our wood-paneled Ford station wagon was comfortable and well air-conditioned. Our family friend Mary was catching a ride home with us after visiting friends she had met at a state-wide high school event. She was eight years older than me, our favorite babysitter.

When it was Mary’s turn for the joke, she said, “Look at the sand. Look at the sky. Look at the street. Gee you’re sweet!”

We laughed. Her joke was as funny as ours, and it made us feel good too! That one rhyme changed the way I joked with people. It was transformational. I learned that you can be funny AND nice. You can feel joy as you tease!

When I was a teen, our youth group at church started a tease called “Tell Last.” When you heard something nice about one of your friends, you would say to them, “I have a TL on you.” They would then have to tell YOU something nice they heard about YOU, and then you could share your gem with them.

While engaged in listening for compliments about my friends so I could share a “TL” with them, I discovered the joy of celebrating my friends’ strengths, and the joy of sharing positive words. It created a cycle of love, appreciation, true respect and humility. It filled my heart to bursting. Gone was any jealousy or envy, because I now shared in their success. Their success was my success, too.

Sharing positive words has a three-fold effect. On the one hand, we train our brain to see the good in others, to identify it and to articulate it. The world is full of joy and goodness when you see the world through this lens of appreciation. On the other hand, you experience joy when you lift another person with your words. The lift you can experience in your life multiplies–as many times as you have positive words to share.

On the third hand (if there is such a thing), rather than see others as competitors, you see them as teammates whose accomplishments benefit you AND them. You can celebrate every day when you see the world this way.

Words matter because people matter. “Knowing the worth of another person’s soul informs almost every other decision you make about them,” taught Tamara Runia, global leader for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And what is the worth of another person’s soul?

I like to think of it this way:

“For God so loved YOU, that he gave his Only Begotten Son.” (John 3:16 KJV.) The worth of every soul–every person–is greater than we can imagine or articulate. We have to always remember that. It helps us squelch our envy, irritation, or animosity toward others.

If we can remember that every person we interact with has a value that exceeds anything we comprehend, it helps us to remember that our words to them matter. The way we talk about them matters. The good we look for in others matters.

A friend recently told us that he and his wife never speak ill of another person, ever. They don’t “vent” to each other. The reason? “It brings us all down.” On the other hand, positive words lift us all up.

If all of humanity looked for and spoke about the good in others, the entire world would experience a greatly needed lift in joy, wouldn’t it? Let’s do it. We can lift this world one positive word at a time.

Beth Wright loves her family and she loves Jesus. She is thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.