WORDS CAN MAKE AND BREAK RELATIONSHIPS

Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.

Pearl Strachan

Spoken words, sped arrow and lost time will not come back. We have the liberty to use any word in any way. But we cannot have the power to stop the consequences of our words. Words can make and break relationships. Communication can be a very big tool to leverage our interpersonal rapport.

It is not what we mean but how we express is very important. Sometimes we may hurt or harm someone else’s feelings knowingly or unknowingly. Like a crack in a glass, some relationships may be impossible to mend once strained.  Years of friendship may be destroyed in a moment of emotional outburst.

We may have any number of reasons to be emotional and impulsive. But the person receiving the same may not and need not appreciate it. Spoken words are too powerful to be forgotten.

Over this weekend, do an important exercise. List at least three occasions where you got into a relationship problem with an important person. Recall what words you used and how you used the same. Place yourself in that person’s position and introspect how you would have taken the same.

Maybe it will also be a good idea to do a small audit of how you talk with others, and check if there is a communication gap between how you express and how you should be expressing.

N C Sridharan
www.thetimefoundation.com