Monthly Archives: August 2011

Words….26 letters….
 
Words can be used for many things, they can be used to create a sentence, write a letter to a loved one or old friend. They are used to create great novels and beautiful sonnets. To keep notes during a business meeting or just to chitchat with a friend over coffee. They are used to tell someone how much you love them or to sooth a friend struggling through a broken heart.  They were put together to create the greatest book ever written…the bible. And the greatest three words “I love you”.
These wonderful words can be used to create beauty for all of us to read or hear, they can also be used for the other side of the spectrum. They can be used to say vengeful statements. They can be used to cycle through an argument over and over again….lots to say but nothing to gain. We have all been on both sides of the “word” at one time in our life I’m sure and the later is not very pleasant. We may very well have been the one dishing it out in a fit of anger.
Remember the old saying as a child we used to ward off bullies….it went like this: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”. I don’t know about you but I would rather have had the broken bone because a broken bone will heal….a name spoken in malice will scar forever. Words spoken can become the arrow of pain never meant to heal. Sure we may say “it’s okay, I understand the anger he/she is feeling” but the truth of the matter is the cut left by those words will always be slightly open for any grain of salt to pore in. We cannot seem to close it up. We can only pray to God to give us healing, and to help heal the person that threw the words at us, either face to face or through a written means of communication. All twenty-six letters of the alphabet have been used to create words to say good, bad or indifferent things to us. I visualize them floating around, and in our moods we just start pulling them out….sometimes the soft fluffy ones, other times the sharp edged ones that will take a finger off if you aren’t careful in your grabbing.  
So, what words have you used lately? With texting and emailing, those words can be misunderstood. Face to face, words can always be understood better, don’t you think? When you tell someone you love them face to face, it is your face that says it so much better than words. It’s expression that tells us so much. Is the person mad, sad or happy…..loving, kind or cruel. Will you remember the persons expression? Or will you remember what they said…..I’m still betting you remember what was said. It may have been easier to understand what they said face to face….but it’s the words that are remembered.  
When writing out an email, are you sure the recipient really knows what you are saying? Could it be taken as anger instead of a pointless joke? This world of ours has become so “written” instead of spoken, that sometimes I think we have forgotten the art of communication, the expression of communication. But again, does it matter if the words being used are what are remembered more than the expression…..to a point it matters because the words spoken are better understood, even if it hurts.
I hope that every time we speak, write a letter, send a text or send an email through cyberspace, we take the time to stop and think….think about how you might feel if you were the recipient of those words. You can’t take them back once they are said….you can apologize, but they are already out there. Read them again, think about the person getting them. Will you feel that way forever, maybe not but those words will be in that persons memory bank and heart forever…..is it worth it. If they are words of kindness and compassion, you and the recipient feel great. If they aren’t happy words, well we know you might feel powerful but the recipient feels less then happy.  To quote my Mother “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.
We all want the words given to us to be ones of love, compassion, tolerance, understanding and forgiveness. Those are the words that help us, encourage us or just make us smile.
So when you read a book, send a letter or just talk to a friend….I hope you will look ,  hear, feel the words more clear. Utilize them carefully for what they are…an expression of what we feel or think at that precise moment.
Yes….26 letters and what they create….the possibilities are endless, use them wisely.