#29 The Biggest Lie

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”

A wise woman called this the biggest lie that we were told as children.

We all know that words can hurt but, for some of us, they were soul-destroying. Little kids called useless, stupid and hopeless will spend a lifetime scanning their surroundings for confirmation of this. We will find words, looks and gestures that bring back the pain and humiliation. We will continue to think of ourselves this way.

My mother used to say that, “that which does not kill us, makes us stronger.”
I disagree. Words, used as weapons, are not a way to make a child stronger. They break hearts and minds and lives. The words change all of us, for sure, but they cripple some and annihilate others.