War of Words
It is election time in our country. If you watch TV at all, you’d know that this is the season for candidates to run for political office. The ads reveal how things have changed over the years. Remember when candidates running for office would use TV ads to voice their campaign promises and past successes? Well, it seems that most of the ads today do not speak much about the accomplishments and positive changes to be made by the candidates themselves. Instead the ads wreak of torrid back-lashing words against their opponents. The phrase, It’s a dog eat dog world”, seems to be more prevalent than ever.
Words, Bones and Blood
A war of words plays out not only in the arena of elections, but also in our homes, on our jobs and in our cars alongside our fellow drivers. As a child. we heard, “stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. But words do most certainly hurt! Many times, they hurt even more than sticks and stones. With sticks and stones, when the bruise goes away, so does the pain. However, hurtful words can be a lasting wound that may never heal and spin off into other areas of the lives of those affected. The fruit of these spin offs may show up as low self-esteem, anger, depression and even suicide.
We’re Farmers
Maybe you’ve heard that we should not allow hurtful words to control the way we view ourselves. For an adult, that may be possible to do. But, to a child, words take on the shape of truth and are as seeds planted into their hearts. The harvest depends on the crop planted. Seeds of loving, and positive words can only produce a harvest of healthy self-esteem, security and a salve to heal the hurting heart. But, seeds of condescending, mean and hurtful words can possibly bring a harvest of a crippling, self-hatred child who feels unloved and worthless.
Ricochet
In an election, words can hurt as well. They may not hurt the one to whom they are directed. But they may produce callousness in the hearts and minds of the voters. It may lead them to believe that no candidate has any intention of making positive changes on behalf of the constituents they are vying to serve; that the candidates have one goal and one goal only; to get elected. The outcome could possible this: low voter turnout creating the possibility that the candidates that have a less than honorable agenda could very well be elected.
Non Reversible
Words are like water coming from a faucet. Once it has been turned on, you cannot put the water back into the faucet. Once harsh, mean and belittling words leave the mouth, they cannot be taken back. Apologies help, but sometimes, the damage has been done and could cause a relationship to be irreparable. So, do words hurt? There’s no doubt about it! Where there is war, there are always casualties!
Copyright Jacquelyn Lott “All Rights Reserved”
