Words

Here I am laying on the couch with the laptop, and all the sudden the sun pops out and I decide I must take a walk. It is a beautiful day, sunny, blue sky, great temperature, and I know where I want to go. So, I'm walking along a pretty busy (usually) road, minding my own business, and I hear, "SLUT!!" as a black car cruises by. I'm shocked, nearly laugh, then think about why some girl would yell that at me. Definitely not the clothes: sweater, t-shirt underneath, pants, boots... Then I figure it's got to be the hair. Side part, blonde... Yep, blonde, guess that makes me a slut. So, that one word (slut) sabotages my entire walk. Now every car that goes by I just want to hide, soon I'll be on the quiet road though. Why did that girl even yell that at me? I don't understand, I'm pretty sure she didn't even know me, so why would you do something like that? A stranger's word completely changed my mood, so how much more could a friend's, a family member's?

That got me thinking about words and their affect, both positive and negative. The negative has already been explained. The positive affect? What if that girl had yelled, "You look nice!!" or something similar? My whole attitude would not have been changed, I would have continued on my happy walk. Then I had to wonder: how many times had I changed someone's attitude, for the better or worse? Was I no better than this accusatory girl? How many times have I complimented someone, said an encouraging word to someone in need? How often had I judged others, said my (negative) opinion when it wasn't wanted, or passed someone who was in need?

I guess my walk turned into a lesson on the affect of words.

So watch what you say...

You could change the way someone is feeling...