What You SAY is What You Get

What You SAY is What You Get 150 150 Ben Coker

What You SAY is What You Get

In the beginning was the Word” (from the Christian Bible the gospel according to John, Chapter 1, verse 1) this phrase or something similar appears in many religious texts.

You and I have frequently visualised those things that we want to be, do or have.

We’ve ‘created’ those pictures ‘in our mind’s eye’, and maybe we’ve put together a ‘vision board’ or a ‘mind movie’.

You and I may have personal ‘affirmations’ – short phrases that embody the vision that we have for ourselves. But do we actually say them out loud or do they become a ‘silent prayer’?

All religious use prayer in one way or another. The trouble is, particularly with the established religions that these prayers are (with a few exceptions) written and often spoken, not by the members of the congregation, but by a member of the religious ‘order’, or whoever is leading the ‘service’.

The visions that the religions speak of are not necessarily those held by the subscribers to that religion. People pray for the vison that the religion has for them.

In some cases though, usually in ‘breakaway’ or ‘splinter’ groups from some of the main religions, people do pray for themselves, and for people who are important to them. They pray for their own vision, not that of the ‘church’.

But the thing is . . .

Praying on an ordered or scheduled basis is missing the point – and it wouldn’t be very effective in bringing about your or my personal vision.

Because praying is simply saying – out loud – what your and my vision is of who or what we want to be, do or have.

It’s about not silently repeating some affirmations a couple of times a day, it’s about having the conviction to say out loud what it is that you and I have envisioned.

We can do this with short or long statements. Sometimes it can be a ‘one liner’, sometimes maybe 100 words or so – whatever it takes to describe our ‘dream’.

But that’s not all – there’s a lot more to it – it’s not just about ‘praying’ for what we ‘want’.

You see –

Whenever we speak about anything you and I are making a ‘request’.

A request for what or how we want our lives to be.

You and I may be describing our business plans, a holiday we want to take, an event we’re attending, improvements we’re doing to our homes, how well ‘things have gone’ recently – or not.

We all talk a lot.

Whatever we say is ‘recorded’, and whatever you or I recognise as the ‘higher power’ takes note and endeavours to bring such things into reality.

So be careful what you ask for – and be careful what you say, because everything is interpreted in some way as a request.

And be careful what you say about others, or to others, because the higher power doesn’t discriminate between you and them.

If you wish ill on someone else than it’s almost certain that at some time in the future, that wish will be reflected back on you.

It’s happened to me and I’m pretty certain it’s happened to you as well – one way or another.

Some people call this Karma.

But it’s not just ‘talking’ – writing is just an extension of talking.

What you write to or about other people, if it’s in a public domain such as social media, is exactly the same as taking to them face to face.

You and I cannot hide behind a screen and pretend we’re not there.

A huge amount of damage in the world has been caused and is being caused by people who think they can do that. Many things written on social media would never, ever, be said face to face.

But there’s more

You and I can use writing to reinforce and enhance our ‘prayer’ activity.

When you and I write down, in as specific detail as possible (and we can always change it later), all those visions of the things we want to be, do and have, it empowers our visions and empowers the words we speak.

This works best when you and I write, by hand, on paper.

When we do that pathways are created in our brains between the thinking parts and the doing parts that help to cement in those visions.

Maybe within a generation or so the same thing will happen when people use a keyboard and screen rather than a pen a paper, but tests have shown that this doesn’t work nearly as well – yet.

This week I’m saying my affirmations and ‘prayers’ out loud and writing them down on paper.

And I’m working very hard on not criticizing or saying ‘bad’ things about anyone!

You . . . ?