stick and stones may hurt my bones
but words will never hurt me. . .

it's a childhood chant. taught by my teachers so that we could probably develop a thicker skin, lesser propensity to feel emotional pain, to brush off insults or anything demeaning more quickly. i never learned the trick. i never lived by this.

i have hurt more than my share of people, close to me or not because of my defensiveness, my quick tongue. i can beat people up with a few choice words. i get angry so fast, i blow up way too early, when i do i send out a barrage of curses or take to name calling or just plain mockery. i become careless, thoughtless, they hurt me i have to retaliate. i can apologize later anyway right?

wrong.

and i learned it the hard way. i have lost way too many people because i said things i did not even mean. those that i did manage to save, my relationship with them was never ever the same again.

i am a master of words, or at least i'd like to think that i am. i can use them to woo, to show my sincerity, i can string up sentences to let people know i'm happy, it has always been easy for me to convey what i feel when i write or talk, gift of glib alright. i can use it as a weapon too, though. since i know what people would love to hear, i also am very familiar with what would anger them, cause them to stir. i can cut them with my words and make the wounds deep. i know what to target, i know what to avoid. i'm a mercenary, at least i was.

until i realized that it's not just a game.

that what i say or write affects some people too much. that i can break them apart. that i can destroy their belief in themselves. that i could kill their self esteem. that each word i speak can act as lashes that leave welts.

they say those who live by the sword, dies by the sword. i say those who live by words, can die by them too. i know first hand how it feels to be made mincemeat through phrases carelessly thrown at me. it is not a pretty feeling, not at all.

so i stopped.

now i never speak when i'm angry or hurt or both. not when i'm frustrated or confused or both. not when emotions are running high and thoughtfulness too low. i wait.

till i can think again. till i am reasonable again. when i have cooled down and i am sure that what i will say or write i really mean. i do not wanna say anything i can't take back, i'd rather stay silent.

maybe it's foolish. but then again, maybe that makes me wise.

stick and stones, they hurt my bones
but words, they pierce through my soul. . .