After the first cool snap last year I heard a young mom say, “Well, cold weather is on the way. I’d better brace myself because the kids will be sick all winter. They always are.”

And you know what ... they were. One of them would just get over an ear infection and another one would bring home the stomach flu. It was an endless cycle. She was right. I hope she’s bracing herself this year if she is predicting a negative winter again.

We really don’t understand the power of our words. I don’t know, maybe her kids would have been sick even if she hadn’t been so negative, but after surviving last winter at her house I’d be willing to try a different approach ... positive words and more hand sanitizer.

When I was growing up my mom wouldn’t let me say, “I can’t” no matter how big the challenge. All she wanted to hear was, “I’ll try”. She would tell me, “If you say you can’t you’re right, you can’t. At least give it a try. You never know, you might surprise yourself.” It’s amazing what you can do when you say you can, because you start to believe it.

In recent years we’ve become more sensitive to kids and how our words affect their self image and their confidence. But, have you ever stopped to think about what you say about yourself? “Oh, I’m always late. I’m not good at social functions. I’ll never loose this weight. I’m not a patient person. I’ll never be successful.” We sabotage ourselves without even realizing what we are doing.

Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death.” Clearly we need to pay more attention to what we say. I casually mentioned in conversation with my friend Alana recently, “Wow, I hope such and such doesn’t happen.” She smiled and said, “Oh we aren’t even going to speak that in to existence.

I challenge you to listen to yourself today. Our words have the power to affect our feelings, thoughts and emotions which determine our actions. Use them carefully.