Recently, in response to someone that had lost their cool with me, rather than walking away, I found myself taking the bait. In having the dark gift for serving up sharp words, it was just too much of a temptation to resist. However, the aftereffects of getting down and dirty left me regretful for engaging. It also set us back further from the goal at hand.
So what’s the big deal?
Today, it’s an especially big deal as at any given time, you can hear pundits to politicians screaming each time you connect with social media.
We all see it, and we duplicate it. We are susceptible to its toxic influence, and not unlike tapping our toe to a particular song, we respond by joining in as if a favorite beat on the radio.
Sharp words are like toxic chemicals; they have the potential to take on the natural landscapes of our regular lives, where, in turn, we lose sight of the dangers. Homes across the United States have any number of products that are potentially harmful, but because they are in our homes, seem harmless. That’s precisely how “negative” words work. For example, for some, yelling is the daily norm and seems benign as it takes on the natural landscapes of their lives. However, despite its regularity and normalcy, it is especially destructive.
And for what?
To swim in a sea of poisonous sound bites?
To outwit some of the louder personalities we see in our Twitter feeds that, in some way, have taken on normalcy?
Each of us has a primary, far-reaching responsibility to work towards peace, and it starts in small ways in places like our homes, schools, and workplaces.
Peace and kindness should be the very foundation of everything we do.
It needs to be a conversation in our schools and as essential and reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Not surprisingly, peace is the first tool in moving towards strong collaborations. Working together, sharing priorities, building teams, setting goals, and getting along are the essential elements of successful recipes for work, school, and everyday lives.
It is as primary as good manners and thoughtfulness.
Keeping peace with our words and actions is a fundamental responsibility for each of us.
It’s also the strategy to move mountains and not to get into the trenches.
We all have the choice to best use our thoughts in ways that contribute to society.
Our words and actions can make an essential change to big problems.
For a change to happen, we, as individuals, need to make the change at our end. We need to commit to peace.
As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”
When we operate under the rule of peace, yes, we can move mountains.