Talk is cheap, but at what cost?

What sets the human species apart from all others? I believe it is not that we have a superior brain or opposing thumbs, it is language, our ability to communicate with words.

I prefer the written word. It can be edited, whereas often the spoken word comes out and cannot always be taken back. The old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” is seldom true.

We tend to forget physical pain, but when someone says something unkind, those words are locked away in our memory bank to be brought back along with the hurt, over and over again.

It takes a strong person to recognize that these were only words, and it is our choice to relive them. It is not easy to dismiss words once heard or read.

Fond memories can be re-told to others and relived in our own mind. Bad memories often get re-told and are exaggerated, made worse than they originally were. The clever lines and comebacks we recite in re-telling the story, are not the words we said, but rather what we wish we had said.

Told over and over the stories eventually become our reality. Others will steal our stories, make them their own and retell them until they become their reality. This is how urban myths are born.

People who talk incessantly miss out on a lot. By talking continuously, they are not letting others express their views. Then when the other person speaks, they are not listening because they are thinking of what they will say next.  

It is only by listening to others that communication pays off. A thought from outside our own mind can spark an entirely new line of thinking.

“Talk is cheap,” is another common expression. Some can talk for hours and say nothing, certain politicians have honed this to an art form.

If some can use words and say nothing, others can stay silent and speak volumes. And silence is simply words left unsaid.

Words may be cheap, but the cost can be enormous. Say the wrong thing and it can cost you your job, end a relationship or lose the love and respect of a valued friend.

Words can be powerful at times, but other times are inadequate. Words can fail and are not always necessary. Sometimes just to listen, hold a hand or give a hug is enough.

Even though cheap, words should not be wasted. Words can build people up or knock us down. They can be both our blessing and our curse.