Words

    Sometimes I don’t which is better:  Reading the writing or Writing the reading!  It simply amazes me that with the words we can put on “paper” (or on the computer page) we make the heart rejoice to unbelievable heights or we can drop to the depth of such painful sorry.  With the mere press of the keys on your keypad or the stroke of your pen you can convey such levels of emotions that it is almost an instantaneous change in your feelings.  Yes, we must admit that words have power, but it is we ourselves that put the power in the words!

     You attach these words upon the written page and the impossible begins to happen.  Places you never thought that it would be possible for you to visit become so real you can hardly catch your breath from the chilling air high in the Swiss Alps.  As if time simply does not properly function, you can be immediately changed to feeling the unbearable heat of the Sahara Desert.  The 104 degrees make your heart pound profusely under its unrelenting barrage.  And we won’t even consider how the scorching 160 degree burning of the sand upon your feet is going to make you feel.  

     But the written word can also transport you to locales of places from the “inner” earth to galaxies that are “far, far away!”  You can become so familiar with new life forms and civilizations that only truly exist through the words written upon blank pages.  These can become part of your life so much so that on a cool fall evening while you are out for a walk you could swear that you heard the mate calling sounds of the elusive Carthagion flute owl as it softly feels the night air.

     Sadly, just as words have the power to create such fantastic imaginary of worlds and creatures, they also have the power to hurt and destroy.  Although not knowing the exact origination you may have heard the phrase:  “Sticks and stones may break my bones.  But words will never hurt me.”  A common childhood chant meaning hurtful words cannot cause any physical pain and thus will be ignored or disregarded.  Perhaps not causing “physical pain” is true, but those words may cause emotional pain for a very long time.

     If we do not build within ourselves a very strong defense system those words may hold us as prisoners within our own minds and bodies and bullies will continue seeking to force us into their depraved state of thinking.  I’ve found over the years that laughter has been a wonderful mechanism that I have used as my defense.

     When I had been told “you’re fat!”  I would also come back with some line like “And I’ll get even fatter if I keep eating the way I do.”  Some might tell us that they don’t like us, can’t play with us, don’t want to be around us, (or whatever phrase they may be using) because “we are different.”  I would come back and thank them.  “Different?  You mean I am unique!  That there is no one else like me!”

     We have to take the words --- either spoken or written --- and let people know that we too enjoy the power of words, but we will not allow THEIR words to define who we are or what we may become.  The simple truth is that words have power, but WE control the power of the words, whether the words are originated by us or by someone else.  I think the Bible said it best at Proverbs 18:21: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; Those who love to use it will eat its fruitage.”

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Remember the power of words,

and choose yours carefully."