The Power of Words

I haven't read (or seen) The Secret, but I think this might relate...

I am definitely a believer in the power of positive thinking. In the past, however, I didn't always pay attention to the power of words. My cousin was visiting last week, and we got into a big discussion about this topic. If, for example, you tell a child "Be careful, or you'll fall!" you may be increasing the chances that the child will fall, because you have implanted the thought into his head.

Yesterday we did a bike ride on 67 from the base of Iron Mountain to Lakeside and back. Along the way there is a killer downhill of about a mile and a half. Now I LOVE downhills on the bike. I feel like they are my reward for any hill I've ever climbed. And I don't just cruise down, I try to go as fast as I possibly can. So I'm going down this hill, fully tucked in, and I am flying! I actually hit 50mph!! Remembering my cousin's words, I chant to myself, "I will stay upright! I will stay upright!" ...and I did!

I'm sure the skeptics out there will say that there's no correlation between my choice of words to myself and the fact that I didn't fall. And really, there's no way to know. But going down a hill at 50mph on a bike is pretty darned scary, and I was happy to have the extra invisible hand helping to keep me in one piece!