Words Do Not Hurt Us - What We Think About Those Words Can.

Once upon a time we talked about "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me".  Now our society has created this false idea that you should be hurt by what other people think and say.  We have even created new terms to validate this false idea.  "Hate Speech, Cyber Bullying,  Hostile Environments".  Which is "normalizing" being offended over words.  

I have no desire to hurt anyone's feeling or be offensive to them, but I am very concerned with this generation of people who are being taught they have no control over their feelings, and if someone says something they don't like they have this huge reaction as if something has been done to them.  I find this mentality dangerous, because it teaches people a false idea.    Most of the time, people are just talking and are NOT going out of their way to offend you. People will make jokes. People will have different opinions from you. People will think how they think, and be how they’ll be, and most likely, it has nothing to do with you. So, why give people who say hurtful things your power?  Why allow something you have no control over to impact your mental state?  Take a moment and consider the words that offended you and ask yourself, is there something I should learn from this?  Is it true?  Is there a source?  After considering the validity of the person's statement you have a choice.  You can choose to disregard the offending comment, or you can decide if it is valid.   Mature people do not allow others to control them, and they don’t give someone else power over them. They don’t say things like, “My boss makes me feel bad,” because they understand that they are in control over their own emotions and they have a choice in how they respond. 

What others say about you isn't about you, it is about them.  They can only speak through there own perception which does not reflect on you.  If I say, "All Green People are Rapists."  does that make it true?  No, it is just a perception of the speaker and it speaks much more about the speaker than the listener.  

Why don't we teach our kids that they can not control the thoughts and feeling of others and they DO control their own reactions?  This is a true and healthy scenario.

 I am worried about a whole generation that is being taught that words are more important than actions and that emotion is more important than intellect.  Mentally strong people don’t sit around feeling sorry about their circumstances or how others have treated them. Instead, they take responsibility for their role in life and understand that life isn’t always easy or fair. 

Consider that it’s always easier to defend someone’s right to say something with which you agree. But in a free society, you also have a duty to defend speech to which you may strongly object.  

My post is not intended to give offensive people a voice, rather to give sensitive people the knowledge they have a choice.  After all we can only control ourselves.

What are your thoughts of Free Speech?  The PC culture, etc?

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