Words

I've noticed more and more how children act on the internet  They say offensive things but try to cover it up by using "jkjk" or ";)" right after they say it. No. That's not cool at all. You might find it funny, but remember words can tear down and ruin really good relationships. They can be derogatory, hateful, envious things. Calling someone a suck-up because they are polite and use sir or ma'am isn't funny. I'm appalled by the behavior of some kids in my logic class. There are quite a few of us who use sir and ma'am out of respect because our parents taught us well. Then others will come along and make comments such as "Well, you're doing it to get on the teacher's good side." or "someone's being a kiss up". I was picked to read aloud one time and my teacher praised me for speaking clearly, loudly, and quickly. One girl decided to write into the chat box "Looks like someone uses their mouth for talking a lot." and after being reprimanded by the older students added in "I was just kidding." Do you see what I mean though? Words have the power to build empires in your mind and create word pictures! But used in the wrong context or through social media can quickly turn to bullying, depression, and in some cases suicide. For me, this is a subject I feel strongly about. I'm a writer. I'm familiar with words, spellings, meanings, and uses. I can pick out when is the right time to use a word and when it's the wrong time to use a word. You have to be so careful with what you say! Without realizing it, you can be causing someone to cry themselves to sleep or to contemplate self harm. Speaking as an older sister, words have a deep effect on your siblings too. I was and still can be very rude and hurtful to my little sister, because I can be very careless with my words.I realize sometimes you feel you can't help it. You're in a bad mood and you snap at everything. I get it. I'm in a perpetual bad mood honestly. Words seem to slip out, right? Not right. You can't say it's not my fault to that. It is your fault. You are the one choosing to stay in the gray skied land of bad moods. You are the one that is choosing to let evil creep into your heart and out of your heart. It's so easy to fix this too. We choose to not because it requires effort, work. My goal for this year and next and the rest of my life is to try and to stay in a better mood. This is normally where people would use hash tags. I despise those. So I'm going to challenge you, my dear readers, to when you feel yourself falling into the black pit of never ending black moods, to claw your way out as fast as you can. Be grateful, thankful, and count your blessings. Think of what a gift words can be but also think how they are used for harm. So try at it. Be happy and stay beautiful!

Dana