Word Up! Are You Underestimating The Power Of Your Words?

Are you on Twitter?

I’ve been on it for a few years now, and I love it. Well, in the spirit of mixing things up a bit, I’ve been thinking of changing my Twitter BIO.

And, in looking at others just to see what type of information people included, I came upon one in which this person described herself as a “recovering introvert” – as if being an introvert was something negative or something someone needed to recover from.

Hmm, I thought…I wonder how an introverted person might feel if he or she happened to read this person’s Twitter BIO.

Now, I’m sure this person didn’t intentionally mean to hurt or insult anyone. She thought she was just being clever.

But what she was really being, and I mean no rudeness by this, was ignorant.

And not ‘stupid ignorant’, but, rather, ‘not thinking ignorant’, i.e., she didn’t think about the potential impact of her words before she chose them.

Never underestimate the power of your words…

This reminds me of something actress and singer, Selena Gomez, said in an interview, when she said that she felt so “bi-polar” when she couldn’t decide what to wear to something.

Or of something actress and writer, Lena Dunham, said in an interview, when she said, “One of my biggest pet peeves is when people go, ‘I just love it when my room’s clean; I’m so OCD!’” (Lena herself has OCD…)

Many times, being on the receiving end of these comments, I think we tend to laugh them off. Hey, we’re hanging out with good friends. We’re having fun.

But, here’s the thing….

When we throw words around too loosely, especially when it comes to throwing words like ‘bi-polar’ or ‘OCD’ around, we disrespect the very people struggling with these very serious conditions. And we disrespect the conditions themselves.

How are you using your words?

Now, I’m not saying that you do this, but I use these “extreme-ish” examples to make a point.

That our words have power. More power than we sometimes realize. And that if each of us, including myself, can take a moment to…

pause

and think

before we speak,

We will be kinder, better, more compassionate people. And the world will be a kinder, better, more compassionate place.

Which, sure, sounds a little idealistic. But it also sounds pretty good.

So, how are you using your words?