Words

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." That’s not entirely true is it?

If words could kill, I’d have killed many people! Or would have probably been killed myself!

Good news is they’re still alive and well. Although, those words said would have stung like a bee.

Sometimes I feel, we forget about the importance of words. How words we utter can affects us all either negatively or positively.

I’ve had numerous arguments and won, but not without hurting anyone’s feelings in the process.

Most times when we find ourselves saying things we do not want to but we do it anyway. It happens to all of us. Its not something all of us are good at controlling.

The thing that gets to me is how we are so quick to say that we’re sorry and didn’t mean the things that were said.  How can that be? In most arguments, when two people are frustrated and possibly angry at each other, you can’t help but react naturally. If horrible things were uttered, it was probably true. The only problem was you used mean, cruel or even derogatory words in that moment, instead of using kind and positive words.

All I’m saying is that we can all be honest individuals, just as long as we stop to think before saying anything that we might later regret.

Words are powerful and everyone should practice using words wisely instead of just vomiting them out without regard for anyone’s feelings.

To illustrate my point, I’d like to share one of my experiences.

When I was a teenager, I was a rebellious one. I never took heed to what I was told to do and only enjoyed doing things I was forbidden to. So you can imagine the difficult times my mother would have faced because of me.

One day, my mother and I got into an argument that resulted in both of us saying horribly mean things to each other.

In her anger my mother said that she wished she had aborted me when she had the chance to.

Imagine the horror I experienced. It felt like she took a sword and stabbed me directly in the heart. I was not only shocked, but terribly hurt as well.

You’d think I would have gotten over the incident knowing that my mother only uttered those words because she was disappointed and mad at me for the way I was behaving at that moment and the words just slipped out.

However, the truth is I have never been able to forget those words. Especially when it comes from your mother. I have never been able to get over it. In fact I think about it every time my mother and I have arguments.

When you use words as a weapon it can border to verbal abuse or verbal violence. Let’s try not to allow ourselves to be the aggressor or the victim.

I don’t think I have to tell you how difficult it can get when the ones you love say the most hurtful things to you in anger. But I guess that’s what makes us human. We all make mistakes and we should make it a point to learn from them. We should strive to be and do better.

We should all practice being generous with our words. Use kind words; always try to be empathetic, and respectful. Even in impossible situations. It won’t be easy. Trust me. But practice makes perfect! And people will love you more for it.

Therefore, THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK!