Whenever I travel out-of-town, I call significant people in my life to let them know of my plans. This week I am preparing to travel out-of-town in a few days and one of those significant people who “means well, but often doesn’t speak well” said, “Ok, I love you and safe travels and make sure you don’t starve the kids”. YES THEY DID!!! YES THEY DID undermine my common sense and mothering of my kiddies..I was quite appalled, but decided to not dignify their words with a response because I am SOOOOOO TIRED of telling this person about their “not so nice” words. Their “stuff” that they refuse to fully deal with often gets in the way of how we communicate. How do you respond to that without having a feud and giving off negative energy, when you are striving to be a positive person?!??!! So, can someone really mean well if they continue to not speak well to you?!?!?? I don’t think so!
Whether you, the reader of this post are a Christian or not, I believe you can’t help but agree that this Proverb from the Bible speaks THE TRUTH about how powerful words are!
Proverbs 18:21 (KJV)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Which simply means that you can help or harm with your words, you can empower or demean with your words, you can encourage or discourage with your words, but most of all you CHOOSE YOUR WORDS! When (our) children have fits, tantrums, or are straight up acting like they are losing their minds, very often when attempting to defuse the situation we say “USE YOUR WORDS”, or when we want them to be polite and say things such as please, thank-you, etc. we might say WHAT’S THE MAGIC WORD. So as adults why don’t we “use our words”? why do we stop saying “the magic word”? Sadly, I have seen women tear each other down instead of building one another up:( and it all stems from a need to compete and survive in this crazy world that caters to men in ways that women are not catered to(i.e. men receiving a higher salary pay than a woman who holds the same job position<– Quite a shame that we are in the 21st century and this happens more than you think). If we would only come to the realization that we are stronger together than apart. Competition is not a bad thing, but it becomes unhealthy when you degrade someone and you don’t have any regard for another person and will take them down, bring them down, SPEAK THEM DOWN, to get what you want, to get your point across. Last time I checked we were all human beings, whether a man or woman we bleed red, so why not have an uplifting attitude, word and spirit.
As a new mom, it is so important to surround myself with positive women, but essentially positive people in general. I know that there are many people who “MEAN WELL” and want to give me all types of advice because they have “been there, done that”,but if you impose your beliefs on me, hardly compliment or acknowledge my efforts to be the best me or ridicule my every move then I will never get the opportunity to say that I have “been there, done that”. Honestly that expression “been there, done that” if you “MEAN WELL”, should only be said with good intent to encourage someone because your experience has equipped you with the tools to push through. So, there is no excuse, if you “mean well”!
Maybe we need to really consider the old adage that says, “If you have nothing good to say, then don’t say nothing at all”. Unfortunately, most of us have a few of those “mean well,but often doesn’t speak well” people in our lives, and my advice is simply SPEAK UP! Do not let anyone speak down to you because you are young, you’re a new mom, a new graduate, etc. Let them know that what they said did harm and not help. And if they say that you’re being dramatic, immature, etc. simply tell them, “Well you have your right to your opinion, so who am I to sit here and work hard to convince you of anything different”. However, do not disregard or diminish the fact that you were hurt because we need to be more cognizant as fellow human beings of USING OUR WORDS to encourage not discourage, BUT do know which battles to fight. Some people’s “stuff” can be a hindrance to the most tactful, yet honest response you may say because “Hurting people say and do hurtful things”. However, you don’t have to be anyone’s punching bag, you can decide to be cordial and keep them at an arm’s length or if for whatever reason they have to be in your circle, use discernment about what you share with them and if all else fails WALK AWAY with your head held high because you may not be perfect, but if you’re putting your best foot forward then you are being the best you, you can be!
|Natural Momma Speaks| 