sticks & stones.

I often think about the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”, when reality words do hurt. As children we were conditioned to let words roll off us. As a child when someone said something mean to me, I felt embarrassed when I cried. I was labeled sensitive, when I actually was having a natural response to my emotions and it was evolving my safety and survival skills. As an adult when someone is unkind or says something intentionally harmful I have a firm boundary that they are not someone I want to be around. I wonder what would happen if I didn’t cry as a child and allowed people to continuously say mean things to me and as I grew up thought that was the norm. I understood then that words did hurt. I understand now that words hold weight. As humans, be careful with what you say. The tongue can speak life or death. What are you willing to do with your power of speech?

-Aasha