Power of Words
I
taught my Power-of-the-Mind class to a group of 5th to
10th grade girls who live in a Housing Projects in
Lawrence. They come from low-income families and many are
challenged in their hope for the future.
Some feel totally powerless to their environment of drugs, violence, and
poverty. The first day I met them I had them do this rice
experiment. I had them fill three jars with equal parts of cooked
rice. I labeled them as shown in the picture
below. They were all placed on the Si, Se Puede, an after-school
program Director, Lorie Mendoza’s desk. I asked the girls to come every day and say
with passion what was written on the two jars and ignore the third
one. After just one week, yes just 7 days, the results were
staggering. The one jar that was said, “thank you, I love you to”,
had no significant change. The rice still looked fresh and stable. The one that they said, “You fool, I hope you
rot!” to, turned to complete mush. You couldn’t even tell is was
rice. And the third jar that they ignored all week had large chunks
of green mold on the top and bottom of the jar. This experience was
so powerful for these girls. It showed them that their words not
only matter but, they have enough power to affect their environment.
Through this experiment they learned that they do have some control and they
can collectively begin to change the world around them. Their
wish now is that every child in Lawrence have the opportunity to learn what
they experienced in this class. Their confidence was strengthened enough to
asked to meet with the Mayor, Dan Rivera to get his support for this program in
the schools. They even wrote letters to Ellen DeGeneres to tell her about what
they learned.
Your
words are powerful too. We live in very divisive times right now
but, as these girls have proven, we have the power to make a difference
too. Words and your intention behind the words are
powerful. What words will you choose today?
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