It is so easy to speak or write something. All you have to do is curve your tongue around your teeth or your fingers around your pencil and let go of all your thoughts, emotions and feelings. We are the only ones that have been blessed with this ability to express our plethora of feelings and not let them accumulate.

But there is a problem. The problem is because we have turned this blessing into a curse. It is so easy to forget that this innate ability is a gift. It’s a gift we don’t value until it’s taken away from us. The mere fact that one day, when I die, I will be rendered incapable of saying what I want to, write what I think of, makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs. It makes me want to reverse time and go back over and over again.

Yet knowing the immense value of this, we still use this gift as carelessly as possible. We do not think before we speak, we do not consider our words before we write, we do not mull over things before we finally express ourselves. We say and write the first thing that comes to our mind, without ever considering, let alone even thinking about, somebody’s feeling. We are so negligent towards the fact that the other person might have some feeling, it’s almost narcissistic. It’s almost inhumane.

We never think twice before we tell someone that they have gained weight. We never think twice before we tell someone that they are too skinny. We never think twice when we comment on someone’s quietness or somebody’s talkativeness.

We never ever think twice before we tell someone that they are to blame for something that they did not ever do. We never ever think twice before complaining about our blessed lives right in front of the unfortunate ones. The range of our insults is vast, yet the range of good things we have to say is, “Hey! You look pretty!”

We never ever stop to consider what effect our words might have. When we are angry, we say everything; when we are happy, we tell everything. And the saddest part about this is that as soon as we say it, we forget about it, while it gnaws at the other person’s inside rendering them incapable of being happy, of being the individual that they have always aspired to. We leave them incapable to think of anything but our words, while we innocently forget what we ever said or even intended.

And our words, what do they do? They spew out of our mouth full of toxicity and negativity and remain with others for a lifetime, slowly building up in their heart until they explode. And when these people explode, they spew out more hate until there is only hate and nothing else. Not even acceptance.

Therefore, all the people reading this, I beg you and ask of you not to speak until you are sure that what you are saying is of value that surpasses the values of your silence. Don’t speak until you are sure that your words will make the person and not break them. Don’t speak until you understand the full value of your words. Don’t speak because you are forced to, speak because you want to, because whatever comes from the heart is always pure and good.

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 21st, 2020