Throughout my entire middle school and high school experience, I have either watched how people's words affected others, or how I have let words affect me. Now that I'm in college I watch those around me still grasping onto things people have said to them in the past. The truth is, no one is truly able to forget things that have hurt them.

After we all graduate college and move on with our lives and careers those words can still hang on in the back of our minds. It's truly saddening to watch how people speak without thinking. My sister and I are still able to remember upsetting things said to us all the way back when we were kids. People who are tenderhearted are affected much more than those who aren't, but it doesn't mean people who are tough are bulletproof to words.

Isn’t it weird how something someone says can crawl under our skin? Metaphorically of course, but it’s almost like their words are an emotion and the second it rolls off their tongue and the sound reaches our ears we can feel something.

Occasionally, you meet someone who is incredibly dull and every word they speak makes you go into a heavier daydream than before. Always read body language. Eye contact is a key sign as to whether the person is interested in what you’re saying or not. It might help you to stop talking and tell the story to someone else who can be completely interested in it. The worst conversations are the ones that drag on and on, and all you can think about is how you could end the discussion and get away from the conversation that made time stop.

We have all encountered words that either make our heart jump into our throat or have completely brightened our day and placed a smile on our face that was too hard to get rid of. The best people are the ones who know exactly what to say to make everything better. There are a few people who can word their sentences in a way to make you see things in a whole new light. Other’s know how to make you feel an overwhelming joy in your heart and make your entire day so much better. And it’s all because of words. How they are spoken, put together, and given.

Let’s not forget there’s a difference between being honest when necessary and just being mean. I’m not saying I have never let words slip out of my mouth impulsively without giving a second to think it through, because I have, multiple times, but it seems like some people have excused their hurtful words as just a part of their personality. That’s what is sad to see. Try to have a personality that brightens someone’s day, not tears it down.

Just like Dr. Seuss once said…..

“Some people are like clouds, when they disappear it’s a brighter day.”

Don’t be a cloud, be a light.