"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." - Old Nursery Rhyme
I've heard that a million times before.
"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all." - Thumper from Disney's Bambi
Yep, been there and heard that before too. Lots.
"Treat others how you want to be treated."
How cliché.
Haven't we all heard little sayings such as these a million times growing up?
The efforts of our parents, role models, movies and arts to plant positive seeds in the minds of a fresh generation is commendable. But let's face it--some of the messages can become cliche.
"Cliché?"
Isn't that word pretty much synonymous with dull, unoriginal, boring, blasé, or uninspired?
People find clichés so predictable because they've heard them an infinite amount of times throughout life--maybe to the point to where they lose their meaning...
So why do some people have such a hard time with them in life if we all know them so well!
If people drill positive messages into a kids brain, shouldn't the message soak into the kid's soul? Shouldn't it become a part of their root as a person?
Maybe clichés exist for a reason. Maybe they are repeated millions of times over centuries for a reason. Maybe mankind stumbled on to something and wants to share it for future generations for a reason. Maybe just maybe clichés can be right.
Lets take the examples I posted earlier:
"Sticks and stones." I know too many people that are too worried about what "other people" think of them. They worry what "other people" will say about them. They could be hurt by the words if they are harmful.
But words can't hurt you, right?
Of course words can be emotionally damaging if you let them... IF you let them.
But, look at history... George Washington, Lincoln, Steve jobs, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Einstein, Buddha, or Jesus Christ... If you do the research, you could find that these great influential world-changing people weren't always popular. In fact, some of them were hated. But they persevered. They weren't HURT by the words of others... Or maybe they were hurt, but they believed in their purpose more than the pain.
Sticks and stones can kill a man. But I guess it takes a certain kind of mind to really REALLY get that words can't kill you. Humans are built stronger than that.
"Treat others how you'd want to be treated."
Do you know anybody who is ridiculously offensive, yet easily offended? It's ironic.
These kind of people could destroy an army tank with their words, yet crack as easily as an egg if somebody talks back. Definitely a sign of an insecure person.
How would the world be if everybody actually treated others how they want to be treated?
Yes. Maybe clichés become motifs in history for a reason. Maybe they're on to something. Maybe the simplest messages you learned as a kid have some real depth and answers in them. Maybe it'd be worth it to pick your brain and pull some of those embedded messages from childhood out and give them a reexamination.
To the great clichés repeated throughout history, I raise my glass to you, for there is another word whose meaning is to be repeated generation after generation...
"Legend."
Cheers! *gulp* (That's some good water)
