So, I've been thinking lately about the sheer power of words. I talked a little bit in my last post about how words need to be backed up by actions, but really that's just the positive words. If those words are going to be believed, they need to be repeated, emphasized, pressed into minds and hearts.
But that isn't true for negative comments, especially with children. All it takes is one insult, and they'll believe it. Maybe even for the rest of their lives. I still remember things kids said to me in elementary school. Not cruel, damaging words. Just small slights that lodged in my head, that still crop up once in a while.
I remember things that I've said, comments I didn't stop to think through, rebuttals that were too sharp.
The thing is, I'm not the only one. I may be slightly over-sensitive, I don't know for sure, but I know everybody has been stung by words, and everybody has made their own verbal blunders. Why are we so careless? Why don't we teach caution in schools? We're so bent on securing our civil rights, our freedom of speech. What about our responsibility for our words?
People pepper their conversations with curses until they're completely illogical. If you drop your pencil, it's perfectly acceptable to drop the f-bomb along with it. Really? You couldn't say "oops" or "my bad" or just laugh? Why not be creative, or resurrect some little-used saying? "Crud." "Fiddlesticks." "Aw, crumbs."
And what about words that are just nasty? For instance, the term pissed off. There are a million other ways to communicate that sentiment. You could be angry, upset, miffed, ticked off, going nuts, driven crazy, driven bananas, driven bonkers, driven up the wall (you can be driven lots of places), furious, seething, sick of it, dealing with a pain in the neck, disgruntled, seeing red, about to blow a gasket, worked up, frustrated, wrathful, indignant, steaming, fed up, had enough, had it up here. You could just be plain mad. There are so many terms, so many options.
Choose wisely.
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