Gut-retching, thought consuming and physically painful. Most likely at some time in your life you have experienced being poisoned in one form or another. Like most people I am guilty of keeping a vile of my own poison, but I like to think that I have it stored away in a place so secret that even I cannot find it. Slander and gossip are the worst kind of poison. It is spread by words from mouth to mouth like a virus, and if untreated can slowly cause death. As a writer you are responsible for the words you print, as a human being you are responsible for the words you spread. One person’s poison can lead to the destruction of an others reputation, or even destroy a family. It has taken me many years to recover from the poison my ex-husband tainted my life with. To this day I can still see, still feel, the scars.
Sometimes we need a reminder about the power of our words and the path they take. Rummaging through boxes of old memories this week-end I came across a vile of poison, a stack of letters that I could not ignore. Some people might have thrown them away or burned them with ceremony in the fireplace, but the writer in me cannot destroy words, even poisonous ones. I put them back in their box and stashed them away. They serve their purpose as a reminder to do better and to be careful when I am looking for words to choose. So, what’s your poison? Think carefully.
10 comments:
I understand about keeping the words. I might have been tempted to burn them, though. But sometimes the people who poison us are the ones we can't let go of.
Amen! Words are power. And we must use them carefully.
My husband's ex-wife used the poison too and it was so cruel and had such long-term effects. That's all behind us now. I will not stand for people to gossip about me, or play the telephone game with my words. I deal with it directly and straightforwardly now - just had to do this with someone. My poison is probably that in the event that I couldn't deal directly with someone for reasons beyond my control, I would fantasize about revenge. I don't actually take revenge - I've learned to let "what goes around comes around" take its course, but I can still fantasize :-)
Words are very powerful and can be used for good or for ill. Reminders are a good thing sometimes.
Funny you should post this. Maybe all Libra girls are dealing with this kind of poison this month or possibly over the last several months. I had to deal with it after I left the hair salon I was at for 6 years. Now I'm dealing w/ my hubby's x-wife's evil tongue.
Reminders are good. I hold on to the words a teacher once said to me. He told me that I should stick with reading and reviewing books as I clearly lacked the imagination to write them. And you know, I poisoned myself because I let all the hateful things people used to say to me about my weight creep and take over.
So very true. Words can and do hurt more than any physical attack. And you can never truly take them back, no matter how much you might want to.
I am so guilty of previous power slashing words. Words hurt and scar.
A story from church: A father wanted his angry rash son to learn a lesson about temper and words that hurt. Everytime the boy lost his temper, said hurtful things, he had to go hammer a nail into a post. Over hundreds of nails, the boy started to change. When the boy said and did something kind (instead of anger), he was allowed to pull a nail from the wood.
Eventually, the boy had pulled all the nails. He noticed the holes in the woods, and asked, "What about them?"
The father said, "Those are all the hurt you caused with your words and actions. That never goes away."
Interesting post, Sis....
Truer words were never spoken. This week I found out from a friend how poisonous she was a few years back. It finally came out. She was part of the major cause that my Design business went down the tubes three years ago.
Yes, she is still in my life, she's sorry, but she can't erase her words... SO as you said be CAREFUL what you say.
My temper is my poison. Thankfully it washes away quickly with a few tears and the howl of my voice. lol
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