Words are really powerful.
I am always surprised by them. They can tear something apart or build it up.
I’m pretty sure there isn’t anything that has started more wars, or created more trouble than words.
I didn’t always know this.
The truth has always been easier for me to speak than anything else. But I was blunt.
I always thought it was easier to say the thing then to try to beat around the bush.
Then I learned the power of words.
The same question asked differently can offend, or befriend.
The same truth delivered thoughtfully can bring change instead of opposition.
When you really start to pay attention to how the words someone else speaks become the thoughts you speak, you begin to realize that less words spoken carefully can have more impact than a lot of words that are rambling.
It’s worth it to speak carefully and thoughtfully.
“Words are things. You must be careful, careful about calling people out of their names, using racial pejoratives and sexual pejoratives and all that ignorance. Don’t do that. Some day we’ll be able to measure the power of words. I think they are things. They get on the walls. They get in your wallpaper. They get in your rugs, in your upholstery, and your clothes, and finally in to you.” – Maya Angelou