Talk Is Cheap

I love words.
Lucky for me – it would be tough being a writer if I didn’t.
Words are amazing.  They can be powerful, destructive, comforting and encouraging depending on how we choose to use them.
We have an endless supply of them at our disposal and they don’t cost anything to use, but their value can be immeasurable.
It’s easy to see how your words affect the people you live and interact with on a daily basis, but what about those who are a little further removed?
Have you ever stood in a queue and overheard a conversation where something was said that has stuck in your mind ever since?
Have you ever read something that resonated SO strongly with you, that it changed the way you thought, felt or behaved?
The person standing in the queue, or the writer, will never know what their words did for you.
Our words – good or bad – have the potential to change someone’s life forever, we shouldn’t be careless with, or underestimate, them.
Reading through lots of the Challenge journals over at Tom Venuto’s Inner Circle is a very good case in point.
There are over 6,000 of them to choose from for the Holiday Challenge alone – I won’t be short of good bedtime reading for a while, that’s for sure – and every single one is packed with WORDS.
Words from the author about what they’re doing, the challenges they’re overcoming, the strategies they are adopting. Words from other contestants offering support, offering advice and some providing playful banter which makes the world go round.
Friendships are being formed through words alone; some will last a lifetime.
You never know who’s reading what you write, or listening to what you say; something that seems like a throw-away comment to you, can be a light bulb moment for someone else.
Words can make someone’s day.
My fab friend, Tamsin, came to stay last weekend.  We went into town on Saturday morning and as we were parking the car we spotted a girl with the most AMAZING lilac coloured hair!
Tamsin’s a firm believer in telling people things that will make them feel good (as long as they’re true of course) and isn’t afraid to tell random strangers that she thinks something about them is amazing – so she went up to the girl and said,
“Excuse me – I have to tell you that my friend and I think your hair is just amazing; SUCH an awesome colour! We love it!”
This isn’t a very British thing to do – Tam’s South African – the girl was clearly a little stunned but the HUGE smile on her face showed she was THRILLED, who wouldn’t be?! Ellie (who was with us) was utterly mortified and said that we were embarrassing hahahaha.
I think it’s probably safe to assume that Tamsin’s comment made that girl’s day, I’m sure she would have felt fantastic for the remainder of it and told the story, many times, of the total stranger who came up to her in the car park in town and said her hair was amazing 😀
Talk is cheap but genuine words, freely given, are priceless.

ps – 20 x 52kgs barbell squats tomorrow – watch this space!