Profound Impact

Sometimes the smallest of sentences can cause the biggest change. Humans are highly powerful solely on the basis of their language command -- we should use our words carefully. I was reading an awesome book and I came across a wonderful anecdote related by the author, who is also a psychologist (Raymond J. Corsini). He was once with an inmate, who had made an appointment to come and see him. The inmate told Mr. Corsini that he was leaving on parole on Thursday, and couldn't leave without thanking him first. So Mr. Corsini asked the reason. And the prisoner told him that when he left Mr. Corsini's office about two years ago, he was walking on air. He changed the group of people he was hanging out with, learned some skill that he could use to get a job, got his high school diploma from the prison high school, and now had a job to go to upon leaving prison. He made his relationships with God and his family better, and was just extremely happy. But Mr. Corsini couldn't remember ever seeing this guy, so he asked the inmate, "Are you sure it was me?" And the guy was a 100% sure that it was Mr. Corsini who he had seen and it was Mr. Corsini who had said something to this man which changed his life. So Mr. Corsini asked him what it was that changed his life, and the inmate replied, "You told me I had a high IQ".

Words are meaningless in and of themselves, mere grouping of letters. It's the meaning, we give to them, that counts.