Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me. We have all heard this saying. I did some research and it has been around since March 1862. But I think it is the biggest lie I was ever told growing up. Words hurt, they destroy. I remember as a child getting picked on. Of course my mom would say they pick on you because they like you.(Yeah, Right) I think I was the poster child for bullying. I provided the bullies with ever reason they needed to tease me. I was overweight. I wore glasses. I had braces. I was quiet and shy. I was smart (nerd material). I was picked on all the time. I think that is why I enjoyed reading so much. I could disappear in my mind to another world and didn't have to feel the hurt anymore. Even in adulthood, I have suffered at the hands of words. I suffered immensely from mental and emotional abuse. I don't condone any form of abuse but I think I would much rather face physical abuse then the mental. Bruises heal and go away. The words play over and over in my head. My self-esteem has been battered so many times that I wonder how I am able to hold my head up at all. One thing that I hate with Bipolar is the continuous racing of the mind. I don't care how much medication you give me, nothing will stop it. Have I learned how to control it some? Of course but sometimes the tapes of past verbal abuse play over and over like a broken record. I guess my point is that I wish people would stop and think about how damaging words can be. The person bullying goes on after teasing but for the person being teased... it can be a lifetime of hearing the torment over and over. For example, when I was about 13, A guy in the neighborhood decided to pick me as his target of the day. He decided that he was going to come up with a name for me with EVERY letter of the alphabet. Trust me they were not nice names at all. He began with A for annoying...B for bi***.. C for chunky.. and so on!! Well it may have been 29 years ago but I will never be able to count how many times this list has played over in my head.. I remember the whole alphabet. The guy probably has no clue the hurt that he caused. When the depressed side of my Bipolar kicks in, I have a hard time keeping these hurtful sayings out of my head. I have worked hard to counteract them with positive self-talk but it isn't easy... Please I am begging everyone. Take a moment and think before you speak. You may not even know how much damage you are doing. I think we need to change the saying to this:
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