Our words are an incredibly constructive and destructive entity, managing to help unite the world as well as simultaneously divide it. There's a famous song that sings "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," Whoever wrote that song is clearly some type of meta human if they believe that any part of that sentence is even partially true.
At the young age of six, the words "we are getting a divorce" were the first to break my heart. Later on, I found that the words "you have lost" or "do better" soon became my biggest weakness. It's hard growing up and feeling like the rug is just constantly being pulled from right under you right after you have just managed to get back up on you feet. My unlucky moments may seem trivial to other people who may have unfortunately gone through worse tribulations, but at the end of the day, words of discouragement will swallow up even the strongest, because whether we like it or not, we are all human.
It is assumed that the idea "think before you talk" is always practiced, because who talks before they think right? But when you are old enough, you realize that life happens and sometimes situations and circumstances coerce people to talk before thinking, do before rationalizing. It occurred to me when I was in my seventh grade English class that happened to be all girls by some chance, that ones words could make or break someone in seconds. There was a day where our class sat around pouring out our emotions to each other and our deepest darkest secrets. From the girl who struggled with anger management in therapy for months to the girl who was always criticized for her litany of family problems, I realized I was sitting in a room full of beaten up self esteems. These girls who turned to each other for comfort and solace all had been effected by hurtful words that have been said to them or about them, and we were only 12 years old.
Of course there are times where we all can act petty and say and do things that our parents would most likely not be proud of, but majority of the time, there needs to be some hesitation involved. There should be a second that goes through you mind, before you start slut shaming a girl who's mother just passed away or criticize someone's outfit when they got to school through a scholarship. There should be a moment where you think before telling that boy that he is too feminine to be of the opposite sex. We all must take a step back before going forward in saying something that may negatively effect another persons ego or self esteem. We are all human, and even if someone seems like they can handle the heat, there's no need in testing out how long they can last before resulting to a break down.
I of course need to practice what I preach, but I hope you walk away with this if anything: be careful with what you say, your words carry more weight than you will ever know.
