Sticks and Stones....

Thought and Poem – January 4, 2015

Well, we did it! We made it through another year. For many, the last twelve months may have been the best months of their lives. For others, these past twelve months may have been the most horrific times of their lives.

We cannot always tell by looking at someone, or by listening to their words what a person may be going through in their lives. Regardless if they just came back from a vacation on a tropical island, or if they never leave their homes, all persons should be treated equally and with dignity and respect. How we use our words when speaking with others can make a difference to how another will respond and how your words will echo in their minds in the days to come. Will they be words that uplift and comfort or words that will add more woes to their already overloaded emotional system?

As the New Year begins, old problems from the last twelve months may still linger into the new months ahead and still weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of those around us. We don’t know all of those who may be facing a terrible disease, financial woes, or still may be mourning from a loss of a loved one? And even if we don’t, should it matter? Shouldn’t we be nice to all people no matter what the circumstances are or what we are facing?

At this time of the year, many people make resolutions and promises about things they want to change about themselves during the next twelve months. Many will never succeed in accomplishing these because most times we set ridiculous goals that we have never been able to follow through with. A diet may last a week, we might go for that daily walk in the fresh air for a week, and we might work on whatever we wish to do for about a week and then our desires fizzle out and we are back into the old ways again.

But what if we all did try to work on being nicer to others? If we just were to stop and think before we speak, we might be able to soften the harsh words we wanted to use, we might be able to say what we want to say without being abusive. Even if we worked on how we use our words for one week each, each time we were to want to speak, eventually, kinder words might rejoin our everyday vocabulary. Yes?

What about you? Can you think of words you can change in your daily conversations with those around you? Share your thoughts with us…Jeanne Claire Probst

Sticks and stones

CAN break your bones,

And unlike how the saying goes,

Words CAN hurt you and

The pain they cause can follow you wherever you go.

Learn while you can

How you should treat your fellow man.

Rhymes might be cute to say and use,

But there is nothing cute about abuse.

May you never have to find out if sticks and stones

Will break your bones,

Or if they will ever hurt you

Please learn how to be nice as there is NO excuse

For any kind of ABUSE!

Jeanne Claire Probst