Be nice!!!

Dear blogfam,

I am so sorry for going AWOL yet again, I got swamped with quite a number of things but I must confess, I don't like it when I leave the blog for long without posting. 

Just the other day, I was listening to "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera and the song reminded me of how powerful our words can be. I remembered how at a program held for ladies at my church, we had a very interesting exercise. We were told to put down (pictures or words) things that we did not want to remember from our pasts. I must tell you, I was surprised to find that almost everyone of us had things to say about how we always try to forget about the times of our lives when we were made jest of, called funny names and things like that. Some of us were able to get over those names but there was one particular lady, who to me and many others, is a very beautiful lady. She could not stop the tears from flowing because she thought she had gotten over those names but talking about it brought back memories, the kinds that you intentionally avoid remembering.    

Why anyone would chose to degrade and demean others still got me beat. Is it just to look dominant and powerful, just to feel good about themselves or what? I see no reason at all for such things. It's just really sad that people cannot simply be nice to others and speak nicely of them. The Bible and several books and studies all tell us not to "let unwholesome talks come out of our mouths" so why do we continually do it?

Do you know that those bad names you call others actually have long lasting effects to their psyche? Have you ever taken just a minute to consider the fact that those bad words you say about others could lead them to low self image and depression? Are you aware that they might hinder them from forming healthy personal relationships? A research report that I read found out that although those victims might become successful people later in life, lots of them still hold onto the events and think about them. That is the exact thing that happened to the pretty, successful lady that could not stop crying at the church program. 

On this note, I ask that the next time you want to take a dig at someone, think about the long term damage those words will do. Remember that those who run others down are only displaying their own weaknesses, simply showing the world that they are only capable of seeing things in the negative realm.  

Choose to be positive, choose strength!!!