Words, words, words. So easily flung around. So carelessly scattered. Like the seeds in the parable of the sower, words can be ignored, listened to briefly and then forgotten, or they can take root and be life-changing (for better or worse). Words come cheap, but they are costly when we use – or understand – them incorrectly. And yet they can be precious gems, giving us something special to hold onto at times of need, flickers of light helping to point the way in the darkness.
How often have we been misunderstood, simply because we have not been thoughtful in our choice of words? Or perhaps we simply haven’t realised that someone might construe them completely differently from how we anticipated.
Like a jigsaw puzzle, our lives are big pictures made up of little pieces.
I recall one day my littlest Wombat cartwheeling down from our front verandah onto the driveway.
“Wow! Well done!” I exclaimed. “You cartwheeled over two steps!”
“No, I cartwheeled two steps,” he replied.
“Yeah, I know. That’s what I said. You cartwheeled over two steps.”
“No,” he insisted. “I only cartwheeled two steps.”
Hmm. Clearly, I was missing something. I stopped to think.
Aha! Lightbulb moment!
He thought that when I said “over two steps” I meant “more than” two steps. And, of course, “over” can have that meaning. But that wasn’t my intention, in this context. Having realised this, I adjusted what I said.
“I see what you mean,” I said, relieved to have figured it out. “I meant over like above, like the bird flew over the fence. So you cartwheeled above two steps!”
“Yeah,” came the reply. “That’s what I said!”
It seems such a little thing, but like a jigsaw puzzle, our lives are big pictures made up of little pieces. And when we get those pieces in the wrong place, or the wrong way around, the picture just doesn’t work out right.
And like a jigsaw, sometimes there are particularly beautiful pieces which illuminate the whole. These are the life-giving words, the words that take root in the soil and grow into something glorious. So it was when I was walking with my Dancing Wombat daughter to the park one day while we were away on holidays.
Let me just provide some context. It was summer, we were holidaying by the beach, and I was doing between three to four hours work (“home school”) with her each day. For reasons which are deserving of their own blog. So it would be perfectly understandable if I was not exactly Ms Popularity with her.
However, while we were on our walk, completely out of the blue, she just said to me, “You put brightness into my day!” And gave me a beautiful smile and a hug.
How special was that! It certainly put brightness into my day. And these words were even more precious to me as she does not often express how she is feeling.
It doesn’t take much, does it. A few words of encouragement, of love. A random but sincere positive comment can make a huge difference to us.
So let’s try and be mindful of how we use our words. Yes, sure, there’ll be times when we get it wrong. That’s life. But at least if we try to develop our awareness of their power, we’ll get better at using them the right way. That’s my theory. What do you think?
Happy wombatting, and may you all have some brightness in your day!
