The Power of the Spoken Word...

With my extroverted personality, I sometimes say things that I think are funny, but horrify my 10-year-old introverted daughter. She gets offended very easily, so I have to make a conscious effort to watch more carefully the words that I use, the way that I talk to her, and think about how she might feel if I say something. With her temperament, she is much more sensitive than I am.

My 7-year-old is at the next level of saying exactly what she thinks and feels and doesn't really understand how things come across when she is trying to be funny. On one hand, her confidence and self-expression make me proud. On the other hand, when we are sitting at my in-laws for Easter dinner it makes me I cringe to hear her tell it like it is in front of everyone. We are working on this. To teach a child about the importance of the spoken word is a life lesson.

At home and at work, someone's spirit can be so easily crushed by another person not carefully choosing the words that they use. Words that one person says so carelessly and without thought can so easily offend another... I'm all for honesty, but one needs to think about what they say and how they say it. Words can not be taken back as easily as they were said. The damage is hard to repair.

When it happened to me and not by me, I became as sensitive as my 10-year-old daughter. People underestimate the power of the spoken word.