The Power of Words

Recently I was thinking about the power of something simple, something we take for granted; words. They are a very powerful thing, more powerful than we realise. Saying one sentence, or one word, can change the course of your life forever. Yes, I sound cliché but it is true.

Sticking with cliché, if a man proposes to a woman one word can alter (or altar :P) both their lives. Just a simple yes or no answer changes everything. Absolutely everything they know. Moving away from the cliché, I was recently faced with the decision to choose a new school. After ages of debating, I said one sentence that is going alter the path for me over the next few years. I was daunted by the decision for ages, but when the time came to make up my mind I was struck with the impact of my words.

The other huge impact of words is the absence of them. Keeping words from people that mean a lot to you hurts both you and them. Like the elephant in the room, something that everyone knows but doesn’t talk about it. It’s the keeping or hiding of words that impact more than the speaking of words. When you know something about someone that affects your life and theirs but they won’t and don’t talk to you about it hurts you more than you can describe. It’s the unspoken words that create awkward gaps between people, pulls people apart. (This connects with my last two posts).

I am a very blunt person; I say things how they are and try not to keep impacting things from people. But in saying that, I don’t go around telling everyone everything about me; I’m just not that kind of person. I believe that if you can help it, don’t keep things from people that might hurt them. If it is within your passable knowledge (My way of saying that what you know can be passed on) to say something to someone that may have an impact on their life, say it. Don’t hold back. What if that was you.  I was recently on the holding side of information by request (My knowledge was not passable) and it hurt me so much to keep that knowledge inside when I knew that it would impact this person’s life. It hurt them too, as they found out via someone else (Whose knowledge was passable) and they got confused.

When I saw that person next, I decided to tell them what I knew. I shared with them what I knew, how it hurt to keep it from them and listened to how me not sharing had hurt them. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done but I am so glad that I got it off my chest. I have taken the knife out of the wound but as with anything, it will take time for the wound to completely heal.

I’m pretty sure I wrote a poem on this a while ago… Nope, I haven’t. I’ll work on it. :)

Grown Apart

So, I promised that I'd write a poem on the spilting of friendships through personal experience. It was a tough poem to write, keeping the feeling but not blaming others. Anway, here it is

 

Grown Apart

You are the hub of the action,

The centrepiece of the conversation,

The one everyone wants to know,

The one everyone wants to talk to,

The one everyone wants to be around,

But suddenly it is gone.

No longer the hub of the action,

No longer the centrepiece of the conversation,

The one no one wants to know you,

The one no one wants to talk to,

The one no one wants to be around,

Suddenly you face a new reality.

Waltzing through the school gates,

Hugging every second soul,

Chatting about the weekend events,

Bouncing through the locker bay,

Reluctantly budged by the bell,

But suddenly it is changed.

Slouching through the school gates,

Hands shoved in blazer pockets,

Lips sealed and pulled taut,

Sliding through the locker bay,

Rushing before the bell,

Suddenly you face a new reality.

Weeks this continues,

Days last forever,

Emotionally drained,

Mentally frazzled,

The ice under your feet melting and cracked,

Your toes dip into the frozen water.

But enough is enough,

When you hit the bottom of the popularity chain,

Barely scraping through a school day,

Time comes to stand up,

To live through the pain,

To deny them the victory.

So you smile at the sight of them,

Smirk when they try to bring you down,

Force your way into new groups,

Laugh at new jokes,

When they whisper and point,

Walk away in victory.

At the end of this torture,

You realise the pain did not start,

When you felt it,

The pain was always there,

In the way that you restrained yourself from them,

You were never you with them.

You felt as though they knew you,

As if you could trust them,

But in the end you find that false,

They never knew you and never loved you,

Only ever used you for personal gain,

But for you it was for personal growth.

You find yourself now with many friends,

None as steady as before,

But all more genuine,

As if there was plastic suspended over your friendships,

And the breaking of one broke the plastic off the rest,

You find yourself as free as… as a butterfly.