It’s true that you never truly appreciate something until it’s gone. Maybe it’s because you never thought that you would lose it — we tend to overlook things we have on a daily basis, and lack appreciation for those things that others would do anything to obtain. We’re taught at a young age that our words can be a powerful weapon, so if we don’t have anything nice to say then we shouldn’t say anything at all. Sometimes, we don’t realize how important we are to other people. Whether it be something we say, something we do, or even just holding the door open for someone — every little thing we do can affect someone in some way, shape or form. This also means that sometimes, our words can hurt whether or not we intend them to. We can do something that’ll stay in the mind of someone for months after the fact, and we can greatly impact the future of that person.

People can develop illnesses like depression or anxiety as results of interactions and relationships with people. Words have a lasting effect, that’s why people get them tattooed on their body. That’s why we’re supposed to be careful with what we say to someone else, because you never know how it’ll be interpreted or how long they’ll replay it in their minds for once you walk away from the table.

You can be the person who’s building someone up to such great heights that they aren’t used to because of their own lack of confidence or happiness, or you could be tearing someone down to the ground and walking over them again and again. You can either be the best thing for someone and really help them change their ways of thinking, or be extremely toxic to them and cause a lot of problems within themselves. Initially, we don’t think about how important a person will be to us in the future. We’re humans, and we like human interaction. It’s natural for us, it makes us comfortable and we’re social creatures by birth. This doesn’t mean we should be causing others to be uncomfortable for any reason by the words we speak or the things we do.

There hasn’t been a day that goes by that I haven’t thought about something someone in the past has done to me. Good or bad, memories can haunt you like a ghost for a long time until they finally fade. And, sometimes, they don’t fade. Sometimes, they remain there and get replayed over and over. Words can crawl up and down your skin, your fingers hot to the touch and boiling with anger, your cheeks flushed with embarrassment, or your smile wide with happiness. Good and bad memories can remain in your mind, and when you’re the person who’s indirectly changing someone’s life, you don’t realize it.

Maybe you befriended the person sitting alone in the back of the class, or always alone at lunch time. You talk to them, listen to their stories, get to know their personalities and really bond with them. You essentially give them someone to talk to, someone to be comfortable around when they might not be comfortable in their own skin. Sometimes, you give that person hope.

And, unfortunately, sometimes you change their lives for the worse. You can be toxic for them, causing problems and arguments and disrupting their normal patterns and mental sanity. You can make them cry on command, you can force them to miss classes and not be able to walk into a room anymore in fear of being seen because they pushed themselves so far in the corner once you came into their life and took control. Sometimes, you give that person pain.