Words

 I remember a conversation I was having with a friend. He was sharing his woes from the office with me. In particular, his grumbling was about a coworker of his. The said coworker was described to be a jerk, to remedy the pain that the coworker often inflicted, my friend would just block out most of the mean comments that the coworker would pass. My friend used a very interesting metaphor to describe it, the image used was that words are like birds, and their meanings are like the wings of the bird. If you take away the meaning behind the words, the bird becomes flightless and harmless.

This had me thinking about words and the impact that they have. The concept of a word is one that is quite peculiar. Words are basically sounds that we make, that we have assigned meaning to. Yet we can see how these sounds shape our realities and relationships on such a large scale. At the right time a kind word can change your mood entirely, on the flip-side, some vulgarity because of slow traffic can spoil your day. It is quite something the way that words can trigger various responses from us. When in a disagreement with a woman, finding the right words to say is like trying to get through a minefield. A lot of the time, I have to try to intuitively see what not to say, so as to not set off any explosives. When traversing through this field of mines, often one may have to forfeit being correct, because the correct answer will not always give you the correct response.

The amount of faith we can have in words is very astounding. It's akin to a Jedi mind trick, where all you do is hear a command or a phrase and all of a sudden you comply to it. I wonder how the infantries would get riled up to fight in the trenches, when they knew the reality of death was so very imminent. What could possibly lead men to charge into almost certain death?  Does rhetoric really have that much influence over us as humans? It brings to mind how promises work. The entity that is intangible but can be so easily broken. A premise that is solely built on verbal agreement that has been with humans, everywhere and in every time period. In some instances, the parties in agreement go onto cement their promise by locking pinky fingers. Promises are fundamental for any society to exist in harmony, because the same principle behind a promise is the same one behind that of rules and laws.Unfortunately, we do not keep our word always and the results of it are devastating. A lot of people who are hurting in the world usually have a story of broken promises in their lives.

 One thing that I have learnt in life, is that people always have something to say. There will always be an opinion about whatever it is that you are doing, whether good or bad. How do you handle it when you receive multiple compliments? Does it find its way into head? When someone drops the word equivalent of an ostrich on you, each of us has a different weighting we attach to the words we receive. The craft of being able to handle a compliment without getting conceited, and receiving a harsh word without becoming turbulent, is one of walking on a fine line. On the one hand having thick skin towards bullies is not a bad thing, but if it pours over into becoming the inability to receive words of affection, then that becomes a travesty. 

Conversations are two directional and the only direction that we can control, is the one that starts from our mouths. A lot can be saved by watching what words we use and how we use them and a lot is reflected from within us by the speech we use. To quote a scripture 

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45 ESV

The way someone speaks really does betray what is inside of them. If words are birds then our hearts are the nests from which these birds have hatched. It leaves me reevaluating the things I say to people, or if  I change my demeanour around certain people. That leaves me with a challenge for both you and I dear reader. What kind of birds are we letting into the world through our mouths? Are they majestic peacocks, tiny sparrows or menacing ravens? Try and see what kind of vocabulary you are using with those around you in your daily life.