I have seen how careless and malicious words infect people’s hearts with the story of two friends:
Two boys, of the same age, were living in the same neighborhood, went to the same school.
The only difference is that the one’s parents used to tell the child how bad he is. He never knew whether he would be spanked or praised.
The other boy’s family was different. They used to eat meals together, sharing their lives in a safe nurturing space. And the words they used were different – not only praise for a job well done, but appreciation for being part of each other’s lives.
One day the friend from the not-so-friendly home started yelling at his is friend, telling him how bad he is and for many months lashed out on him when he did something wrong. This caused that the boy from the loving home did not know what to do with the sudden pain of the constant stabbing to his heart!
All he could do with his bleeding soul was to start yelling at his mom, whose heart was also slashed into pieces because of her child’s sudden hostility. She in turn, because of this unexpected pain and new emotions, stopped talking to her husband. Her husband became so frustrated by the silence that all he could do was sarcastically scold at his family. In this way their hearty meals became silent torture with each bleeding heart trying to protect himself.
This story makes me believe that humans have the ability to slowly slash each other’s hearts into pieces by using words only. And as you bleed you turn silent about the good and worthy in others and your words become bitter and twisted, gushing the same venom on others that you feel in your broken heart. In this way we keep alive the cycle of using words to kill each other’s souls with a slow and painful death.
This pain of separation from being loved and accepted is usually getting so severe that we will attack what is dear to someone else to traumatize them even more – only to get temporary relief from my own pain!
An Antidote?
I believe there is an antidote to this word-inflicted world of #WordPoison.
This is seated in choice because every one of us has a choice. We can allow other people’s venomous words to make knotty nests in our imagination to eventually kill our souls OR we can forgive and walk away!
To get to this choice first get perspective about the real issue. Then, if you made a mistake say sorry and simply stop the stream of life-killing words from your mouth! And, if you are innocent, forgive.
This word-antidote-choice is a process and will never be easy. But, every choice to stop breaking others with your words breaks the cycle of a wounded and word-infected community.
…. Well, the story of the two boys had a good ending: the boy from the previously happy family one day overheard how the other boy’s dad growled at him for a minor mistake. After hearing the same tone of voice and the same words his friend used to snarl at him, the boy realized that he did the same to the people he loved.
And then he made the choice ….
Copyright Annalie Anticevich © May 2020
#WordsDrippingWithHoney 