This Is Why Why Your Words Hurt Others
Stop being stupid.
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
William Shakespeare gets it.
We place a lot of value and emotion into words. Language and words have power.
Take a keyboard warrior (love that name!) who spends hours labeling and denouncing others for their perceived shortcomings. Why does this keyboard warrior get pleasure from insulting and deriding others? By pointing out the inadequacies of others, this person feels superior. They may not have much, but at least they are not an *insert name here*.
How does it make you feel?
I recently did an exercise for the day, where I kept track of negative and positive words and thoughts. Before the exercise, I never placed much attention to how different thoughts and words made me feel.
Soon after completing this exercise, I realized that I was reinforcing my own misery by using words to perpetuate the state of being. For example, I might say “I am such an idiot.”
When I became mindful of how that internal monologue made me feel, it was eye-opening. As it turns out, telling myself that I am an idiot made me feel a slight sadness. And to think, I did this multiple times a day.
How does it make you feel to call yourself “bad” names? Do you feel a sense of sadness? Or does it give you relief?
Calling others names hits different.
What about calling other people names? Does it feel the same as calling yourself names?
Imagine that you routinely insult a group of people for their political ideologies that are much different than yours.
When you call “those people” morons and uneducated fools, does it give you a sense of relief?
Or does it stoke your inner anger, making you want to call more people names?
There is no right or wrong answer. I am sure the response/reaction mechanisms we all have are different.
As for me, I am working on being kinder to myself and others — every day.
