Freedom of Speech – using words wisely

I read an email from Eric Rhoads, publisher, and it led me on another side of the freedom of speech issue which I’ve been writing about a lot. I love what he said here:

“What if we all watched our tongue? What if we held back the temptation to lash out and spew negativity, and instead projected encouragement and belief in others? We would change the world. Your small, seemingly innocent words can have an impact. Words can ring in our thoughts for decades. They can set us on fire or burn us at the stake. How will you use your words today?”

We’ve all said things we’ve regretted. And, too, sometimes it’s not what is said but how it is said. There’s got to be a way where we can freely speak and write about our beliefs without letting our negative emotions take control of our tongues.

This can be extremely hard. My emotions easily take over, especially if I feel my point of view isn’t heard and respected (respected doesn’t necessarily mean agree with). I don’t yell, argue or get nasty. I usually heart-wrenchingly fall apart, crawl into a hole and cry. OK, maybe inside my head my mind is upset and screaming, but I tend to retreat, go into hiding.

What I find happening is, by not being able to speak or write my truths openly, frustration builds, and frustration turns to anger ... and for the first time in my life, I am also experiencing the feeling of hatred. I’ve never hated anybody in my life! Even in my younger life when I was so miserable and felt like everyone was against me, I didn’t hate them.

I don’t like this feeling, and every time I feel it brewing, I pull it back and then just get incredibly sad … not just at myself, but things in general.

The lesson, if I can call it that, is that all this gives me understanding in how and why people lash out in anger and perhaps do things they wouldn’t normally do. I understand; doesn’t make it right or excuse bad behavior, but I understand how it happens. I understand when people are sad and miserable, they are going to be overrun with negative emotion and they will explode. It’s human nature.

Is there a way we can speak freely and compassionately stating our cases? I don’t know. Maybe our humanness will always lend itself to the down sides of emotion. Yes, there are those who are very compassionate and forgiving, but not everyone is that way. Maybe most will always succumb to the need to defend their rights (or what they see as right).

Maybe all we can do is try to use our words wisely and stay positive.