Thunder thighs. Beady eyes. Dishwater hair. Baldy.
These words all need to go! On the surface, these nicknames may seem funny and even accepting. Haven't we all been taught to laugh at ourselves? But realistically, these self- or other-deprecating labels aren't funny at all; They're like poison to your soul.

What negative words and labels say, is that you - or someone else - aren't beautiful, aren't living up to some external beauty standard. Rather than seeing the inherent beauty of our bodies, we're labeling them as bad, less than, and negative. This way of talk diminishes all of us, keeping us from reaching our potential, from becoming all we can be.

From my earliest years, I've experienced the power of positive words and their effect on self-esteem. If you read my bio, you know I was born with malformed hands and feet. Yet the words my parents spoke to me - of how special I was, how unique and wonderful my hands and feet made me were to me the foundation of a strong self-acceptance and self-esteem. I don't even think about my hands and feet, even though in my work they're "on show"all the time and, despite numerous operations, have never become perfect.

Conversely, I've also experienced the effect of negative words: As a teen, I was late to develop. Because no words were spoken to make this part of me as special and wonderfully unique as my hands and feet were, the negative messages from society undermined my self-esteem. I felt "flat as a board" and desperately unfeminine. Later, I got more curves than I wanted - and that's another story! But look at the difference at how I responded to my unique hands and feet versus lacking a few curves in my teen years. The difference was in the words used to describe each: With positive words I was valued; with negative words I was diminished.

Words have power. They build up. Or tear down. They help us see. Or keep us from seeing ourselves and others. The words we speak go into the soul; if we speak negative, degrading words, they become part of who we are, who others are. If we speak positive, encouraging words, we can be part of someone's growth, even our own. A word of hope counter what could be a painful self-image.

Try paying attention to the words others speak to you. Note how you feel when someone speaks negatively and how you feel when the words are positive and encouraging. See how another responds when you speak negatively or positively.