by Morgan Snyder
I’ve always loved the little things in life. It brings me an uncommon amount of satisfaction when I am dealing a deck of cards and I just happened to pick up the exact number needed to deal what is necessary to play the game. Or have you ever been driving at dusk and all the street lights turn on all at the same time because the light of the day has just faded away? Or when I’m listening to a podcast episode and I reach my destination at the exact moment that the episode wraps up completely. I could go on and on about those little things that make such a big difference. I mean, just search “satisfying videos” on Instagram or Youtube. Everyone agrees… the little things really do matter!
We take some small things for granted, though. One of the smallest, seemingly insignificant things we can do is say something kind to someone. We often use our words like they have no value at all; we throw them away without thinking about what kind of impact they are having on us and the people around us. And yet, we are all well aware of the price of words. Remember how you felt when someone said something mean to you? Or when someone gave you an unexpected compliment? The statement “No, I don’t want to go out with you.” has broken many hearts and ruined many days. And when someone says “I’m so proud of you!”, that can change someone’s whole outlook on life. Words are expensive, we just don’t always keep track of how we are using them. Now, the beautiful thing is that words are not expensive in a monetary sense. We don’t have to work a job for the privilege to use words like we do to earn a paycheck. We have an unlimited supply of words and therefore wield an insane amount of power in how we choose to use them.
But every superhero movie has taught us that power can be used for good or evil (ahem, Thanos … Darth Vader … He who must not be named…). Strangely enough, sometimes these movies can make us empathize with the villain, but in the real world if someone is using their power against others, they don’t keep a lot of friends. And if there’s one thing I know about people, it’s this: we all want friends. The simplest way to make the world a better place is to use our words for the benefit of others. And we don’t run out! It’s not as if we must say, “well I’ve said all the nice things I’m allowed to say today, I’ll have to stop until tomorrow!” No! We can say kind things, speak positively, speak truthfully, speak intentionally every hour of every day without losing out on anything for ourselves. In fact, it will probably benefit us as well, if not more than others around us.
So how are you using your power? Are you thinking about your words and how you could make someone’s day today? Or have you spent 99% of your day complaining? We are not limited to using our words negatively. If someone has lifted you up with what they chose to say to you, you can do the same for someone else. You have that power to make the world better in one easy way: using your words.