power of words

I’ve heard my whole life about the power of the tongue, and the power of words…but never in my life have I known and felt that to be so true since I’ve started blogging and attempted to make a career out of it.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue. — Proverbs 18:21

As a blogger, your life is open and fairly public to thousands of people, and thousands of people’s opinions. Opinions on what you look like, how you dress, how your voice sounds, what size you are, the lifestyle you live, your hair color, and everything else. I’ve learned to develop thick skin on this journey of blogging, because let me tell you, you can’t please everyone. And people can always find something to criticizie or be negative about – especially when they think they can hide behind a computer screen or phone.

I’ll be honest – I’m a human (and a sensitive one at that) and even with my “thick skin”, people’s comments have definitely hurt my feelings at times. But I’ve always known that words can hurt. What I’m realizing now more than ever is the power of kind words and how they can truly impact a life.

I feel like the haters get all the attention because they’re stirring up drama and acting like 5-year-olds. But I specifically wanted to do this post so thank every single one of you who have spoken kindness to me, specifically on this journey of blogging. Every kind comment you leave (either here, or on my instagram) truly makes my day and encourages me more than you know. Even just simple comments like “beautiful!” or “I love this!” go such a long way.

I say all of this to say that words are powerful, so why not use that power for good by making them kind words that bring life and hope and joy? I can’t thank those of you who have encouraged me and spoken kindness to me over this past year enough, and want to encourage all of us to be women (or men!) who speak kindness into other people’s lives.