WORDS! That simple five- letter syllable allows us to communicate with others far more effectively than actions, although some would say that actions speak louder than words.
Words communicate to people our wants, our desires; they provide a way to express ourselves so that others can understand what our intentions are.
Words are a double-edged sword – they can strike you down and hurt you just as effectively as a knife would.
If we let them!
And we often do. But remember, if you’re hurt by words, then it is your fault. Because you have the power to allow words to not hurt you.
I’ve recently been binge-watching Suits on Netflix, a fictional TV drama about lawyers and the various cases worked on by a firm. And I’ve noticed how words can change the meaning of things, how words can be devious, can hurt others and, interestingly, how words can shape a life.
It’s a nine-series story, quite long but worth taking a look, to show how using the same words in different ways can change meanings, and in turn change lives.
It’s funny, but as you get older you start to wonder about things that have gone on in your life. How did you learn to talk, was it that easy, how many actual words do you know?
Many thoughts run through your mind. How did you learn to add up so quickly, why are you so good at remembering certain things from 50 or 60 years ago, conversations that you might have had, thoughts that you can remember from way back.
You can remember your first actions, even though it may have been when you were only three or four, but you remember them.
But can you remember the first words you ever uttered. Very few people can do that.
Actions, on the other hand, you can remember. Why is that?
Instead of looking up a thick “dictionary” (the young would ask, “What is that?”) you only have to type in what it sounds like, on a mobile or iPad to get the right spelling, pronunciation and its meaning.
There are apps that can write a speech for you in however many words you want and with whatever points you wish to emphasis.
It’s said that vocabulary growth stops at middle age, and there are different views on how many words the average person knows. (somewhere between 20,000 and 45,000).
Studies have shown that an average person can speak up to 1000 words in seven minutes.
So, words and how we use them are up to us, but to use words as a means of expressing oneself is an art, and even as we get older a simple gesture in words can make or break a conversation, can show appreciation, can show love, can show feelings, thoughts and desires. Our simple use of words can show other people what we feel and how we think.
Words – those five little letters can make the world of difference to our lives.
