Simply a combination of letters

As I was sitting here, pondering what to write in my blog this week, I thought about something that has been on my mind a lot over the past two days.

Words.

By themselves, they look just like what they are: a bunch of letters, put together in various combinations to produce a certain meaning. A single word by itself, however, rarely has much of a meaning or an effect.

However, two or more words put together in just the right (or wrong) way, can have incredible power. The effect can be something beyond, well, words.

Remember that saying, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me"? The way I see it, that couldn't be more wrong.

Words are not simply a meaningless combination of letters. They have the power to make or break someone. At the end of the day, whether it is intentional or not is beside the point. They will go on and do their thing whether you meant them to or not. The potential words have to affect someone, either in a good or bad way, is something I don't think many people understand. Myself included.

So what exactly is your point? You may ask.

My point is this: Be careful. Be intentional.

Make.

Whether you're good with words or not so good, you have the power to make people with your words. Intentionally go out of your way to build them up. Encourage them. Tell them how much you love them. It's not rocket science. But unfortunately, it also doesn't come naturally to a lot of people. (Again, myself included.) A single comment, text or email to a friend (or even someone you don't know that well) could make someone's day. It could help them to have the strength to finish something. There are endless opportunities. Try it sometime. Believe it or not, you'll probably find that building others up will do the same for you.

Imagine if everyone did this to everyone else, everyday. The world would be a much better place, don't you think?

Break.

Now, try not to misunderstand me here. I'm not saying that you should intentionally break someone. Not at all. What I'm saying now is quite the opposite (as it should be, considering make and break are, in fact, the opposite to each other).

That one sentence, that one combination of words (which are themselves a combination of letters), could cut so deep if you're not careful. It may not be intentional, but that won't make it hurt any less. Words have the potential to easily break, completely crush, someone you care about deeply. So you have to be so very careful. I can't stress enough how important it is that you think properly before saying something. Because the next thing you know, one seemingly harmless sentence made up of the wrong combination of words, at the wrong time, could have a very hurtful impact on someone you love.

Trust me. You don't want that to happen.

The Crafter.

You are the crafter. No matter who you are, you take words and craft them into sentences everyday. The trick is to craft them properly, so that they make, not break, the person or people they are being crafted for.

If you are a writer, you do this more than others, in which case you must think about how to craft them to properly communicate what you are trying to get across. This is of utmost importance, because if you craft them in the wrong way, your works could have a hugely different effect.

But it is no less important for those who are not writers. In everyday life you must think about what you are saying. Emails, texts, speaking in person, on the phone... the list goes on. You use words and sentences everyday. You must intentionally craft your words to uplift people, encourage them, help them along with their daily lives. Even more importantly, you must try very hard to not craft them in the wrong way, because the results could be disastrous.

Remember--Everything you say or write is not simply a combination of letters. Every combination has layers of meaning. It is how you craft those letters into words, words into sentences, that defines what you are saying. You have the power to make or break someone.

Use it wisely.