Words Left Unspoken and Words Better Left Unsaid

Being so sleep-deprived yesterday, I decided to let my imagination fly. I don't see the connection between my lack of sleep and my epiphany yesterday but it somehow happened so I decided yesterday's blog entry would be about words. To be more specific, it will be about words left unspoken and words better left unsaid. Words are powerful. The decision to utter them or forever withold them can lead to a lot of things. The first type of word regret is most often associated with romance. It is usually portrayed as a boy who was never able to tell his female bestfriend that he loves her in a romantic way. She then meets someone else and falls in love with this other person while the male bestfriend feigns support for the girl's newfound romance. Somehow, he didn't really think her new love will ever bloom into something more serious. He had always believed they were meant for each other. He had always believed it will be the two of them who'd end up together. On the night before the girl's wedding, the boy finally gets the inner strength and will to tell her, to stop her from marrying this other guy. She surprises him by saying she wished his big revelation happened way before she met this new guy and they could have been an item but it's all too late for them now. She has chosen to be with this new guy and she loves him. Because our male protagonist never told the female protagonist his feelings for her, something that could have been beautiful between them never materialized. Or, the story can go this way. The male bestfriend falls in love with the female bestfriend. She meets this new guy and falls in love with him. On the night before her wedding, he told her how he feels. She realizes she loves the bestfriend more than the guy who will wait for her at the altar tomorrow. She makes up her mind and calls off the wedding. The new guy accepts defeat gracefully and makes way for the two lovebirds. The bestfriends lived happily ever after. It's a perfect world. The other type of regret is for words that were better left unsaid. How many times have you ever regretted telling someone some hurtful words which scarred him? How many times have you regretted uttering words in the heat of an argument which caused for the fight to escalate even more? I have my share of situations where I found myself saying I should have not said something. I bet you do too. The problem with speaking when we are angry is that our emotions momentarilly colors everything for us. Because a girl is angry, his habits which under normal circumstances would have been acceptable have suddenly become the cause of a heated exchange of words. The word war results to two broken hearts who are both wondering was the other person right? The girl is thinking he called me something that sounded like a witch, does he really see me in that way? The boy is thinking she said she wished we never met, does she really mean that? Because there were words said without screening or the proper framing, there are now two people in love with each other but are doubtful of their love and future with the other.  As one grows older, hopefully he realizes his words can make or break someone's spirit. The choice on whether or not to succumb to the spirit-breaking words depends on how the aggrieved party sees the situation. He can either chalk it up to experience and move on or retreat into his own protective shell never to come back out again. However, it remains to be true that the words said by that spirit-breaking person will somehow change this other person's life in some way and the spirit-breaker shall be held liable. What you sow is what you reap after all. The bottomline is we are all accountable and responsible for our decision to say or not to say some words. Before talking, it must be clear to us what are motivations are. It must be clear if we want to strengthen or dampen another person's spirits.