Words Hurt Too.

Written By – Thaera Roy

“If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful would we be when we speak.” – Shaun Shane

Have you ever thought about something before you said it? To just take a moment, think about what you want to say and what consequences it could have on the people you’re conversing with?

For some of us, conversing comes easy. We could just strike up a conversation with people, especially when we feel comfortable with them. As humans, it’s our natural instinct to continue talking when being spoken to. This often causes us to overlook going through our words before saying them.

Everyone has triggers. Even your closest family and friends. It could have been a traumatic experience they went through but did not share with you for reasons of their own. We often think that just because they’re comfortable with us and we’re comfortable with them, we can just joke around and give our opinions, no matter how blunt they are, on anything and everything. We don’t spare a moment to think before we talk.

I’m sure you agree with me when I say there have been words that have hurt you. They could have come from the people you’re closest to, or from someone you barely even know. It doesn’t really matter who it comes from, but instead what matters is the effect it had on you. You could have felt as if someone just rubbed salt on your wound. The pain going through your entire body, making you feel uncomfortable and maybe even panicky. Flashbacks of the experiences you’ve had flooding your mind, distracting you completely. The smile you had on your face, probably already faded. All this is our way of reacting to hurtful words.

Sometimes others may pick up on our change in behaviour, but it’s not always. They might just continue rambling on about what they think is right. Not all of us have the ability to tell others that their words have hurt us. We may not want to make them feel bad about what they said, and so, we suffer on the inside.

However, I believe we shouldn’t have to. We should inform them that their words have hurt us. By communicating, hopefully, they’ll understand and be more cautious the next time they bring up that particular topic.

We, too, should be more considerate when talking. If you don’t want someone to hurt you with words, you shouldn’t want to hurt someone with words, too. So, before you make a joke or bring up something sensitive, spare a moment and think thoroughly. Ask yourself if your words could have the potential of hurting others. Would you want to be the reason someone is so hurt?

Picture obtained from:

Kurien, D. T. (2015, Aug 18). 5 simple tips to deal with hurtful words. Retrieved from https://hisvoiceonline.com/simple-steps-to-overcome-hurtful-words/