Words are
potent,
Words carry weight
They can
become a milestone on the receiver’s neck,
Or a piece
of humble pie in the speaker’s plate
Fueled by
the speaker’s emotion; love or hate
These words
carry a lot of weight
Hence, a
word to woo, lure or bait,
To say, I
will not hesitate
But words of
anger will have to wait
‘cause they
become a burden on the hearer
And my
apology might come too late.
By then, the
damage is done,
Resulting in
a shut heart’s gate
Harsh words
said repeatedly at this rate
Make future
conversation improbable,
As speaker and
hearer can no longer relate
So, why go
ahead to say them?
Why tempt
fate?
I’d rather
bury them in the past,
And start on
a clean slate.
Will you?
THE WEIGHT OF WORDS
Soft speech,
gentle words, a harsh tone, a soft tone, aggressive speech: different outputs
from different people which provoke varying actions from the receiver.
The
argument, a disagreement, a debate: these not only produce a gloating winner,
but also a sorrowful loser.
The fine
lines between right and wrong often define the reception of the house to those
holding the varying opinions; cheers to the right man and jeers to the wrong.
There is
therefore a burning desire in every man to always be right and for his opinion
to suppress that of others at every time, as it gives him the high of being
right.
The truth
is, we do this to the detriment of others, silencing or not recognizing the
opinions of the next man is derogatory, leaving him lacking self confidence.
The more a
man’s voice grows among that of his peers, the more his feeling of invincibility
and subsequent disregard of others in his speech. Harsh and disrespectful words
become the norm in our conversations and rhetoric.
So do we
actually care what the next man feels about what we say?
In a
supervisor-subordinate or elder-junior relationship, the popular opinion is
that the former is always right regardless and irrespective of the surrounding
circumstances.
Their word
is law!
If such a
scenario were to end in a disagreement, we blame the latter because society has
already labeled them wrong.
So until the
junior becomes an elder, he will remain wrong and the elder remains right.
Hence, the
spur on the part of the junior to become an elder as fast as possible. He is
anxious to have a voice that is worth listening too with uniform acknowledgement
of its veracity.
That dealt
with, what if there is no elder in the given scenario?
What if they
are peers, brothers, classmates or a couple?
Who is
right? And who is wrong?
From the
origin of such unions or groups, opinions are shared, views are often uniform.
So when there is a difference of view or opinion, it can get really ugly.
Spontaneous
reactions begin to look premeditated and often leave both sides with a
checkered perception of the other.
Yet, we
cannot totally avoid this, can we? Yes we can.
The solution
is simple; detach your emotions from your points and overall argument, because
they cloud your reasoning.
If the
speaker is speaking with clouded reasoning, and the listener is an emotional
wreck, there is a propensity for intense argument and consequent ill-feeling.
Both sides
ought to clear their heads, clearly process their words with the other person
in mind.
If you are
talking to a temperamental person, speak softly and meekly make your points. Do
not in a desire to be right, light up their temper’s flame.
If it is the
other way around, do not take advantage of a person’s meekness and try to
impose your opinion on him. It does not guarantee a favourable reception of
your words.
Carelessly
throwing words back and forth only shortens the lifespan of any relationship,
and that does nobody any good.
So let’s all
carefully choose our words when expressing our views, especially when the other
person does not share it.
Who knows,
you might both be right!
_____________________________________________________
Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015
All Rights Reserved
Image courtesy uldissprogis.com
