Our family shared the Family Love & Communication article entitled, “Positive Words Design Happiness” after having the Happy Home worship. It was an enlightening article about the power of words. What was impressive was about the South Korean fencer in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, who was able to overcome his opponent with the repetitive words, “I can do it, I can do it!” Even though the fencer was nearly defeated and the odds of him winning were slim, he amazingly was able to make a “dramatic turnabout” and win the fencing match.
Around then, my 7-year-old son had struggled with his basic math skills. Because of it, we were in touch with his teacher quite often. She emphasized that what he was learning at that time was very important. My husband and I took her guidance seriously and tried each day after school to work with him on his math facts. We found ourselves putting pressure on him so we tried different means to help him understand through objects and coins to teach the basics. His coming home with his head hanging low weighed heavily on all our minds.
One afternoon, however, we noticed a change. Our son came home with a brighter smile and quickly opened his backpack to reveal the score for his math facts quiz. Then day after day he would come home with high scores, reaching to 100% on a consistent basis! At the parent-teacher conference, his teacher informed us of the vast improvements made in his math subject matter. He was more focused and all-around more positive during that time of class.
What caused the change? One day we noticed sentences written on each and every math facts quiz; “I can do this,” “I can do this and I got this.” Then, we realized how much the Family Love & Communication article had affected him.
We can accomplish anything with the seeds of positive words just as the fencer who was almost defeated won a victory with such words. Heavenly Father and Mother never discourage us, Their children, but in everything give us love, comfort, and hope, encouraging us through positive words. I will apply this to myself, my family, and people around me, so that the seeds of positive words can yield success as my son did. I thank God for giving wisdom, happiness, and joy to our whole family through the Happy Home magazines.