From the moment my feet hit the floor, I am assaulted by words.

Often without purpose.  Often without malice.  Often without meaning.  But often with hurt.

Sometimes it’s personal.  A complaint about this or that.  A snide remark, a passing comment.  Sometimes it’s an insult tossed out toward mankind not directed at me per se, but it attaches itself to me regardless.   Sometimes it’s a generalization, but a mean one that I take to heart.

These words.  They enter my house through living people, through social media, through mainstream media, through print and mail.  Lots of messages.  Lots of comments.  Lots of words.

So.many.words.  Every day.

And in the midst of the onslaught of words, I wonder if we’ve forgotten.

Have we forgotten that KINDNESS MATTERS?

We’ve become this people who think we must have an opinion about everything.  That we must speak about everything.  That everyone is seeking our advice and that we must offer it, in no uncertain terms.

We’ve become a culture plagued by verbal diarrhea.

We don’t know when to stop.  Or maybe we don’t know how to stop.

But we must stop.

There will be times that we don’t stop, though.  And for the times when we don’t stop, we must at least pause.  And remember.  Kindness matters.

Just keep repeating that to yourself.  Kindness matters.  Kindness matters.  Kindness matters.

There’s an ugly root beneath all these words.  I don’t know the root.  Maybe it’s unacceptance.  Or maybe it’s unjustified judgment.  Maybe it’s the need to feel heard.  To feel opinionated.  To feel valid.  To feel accepted.  I don’t know.

What I do know is that words have power beyond our understanding.  Words have the power to get into our psyches and guide our actions.  Words have the power to build someone up and the power to tear someone down.  Words can be amazing, uplifting, rejuvenating and words can be ugly, mean and humiliating.

At the end of the day, it matters.  Because all the words we’ve heard have seeped into the inner recesses of our souls.  And they matter.

We have the power to choose which words we use.  And I implore you to remember…kindness matters.