Destructive Words

There is a couple who have been married for over four decades. The husband is honest and works hard while the wife leads a simple life. They are a loving couple, but their relationship has undercurrents due to their way of talking to each other. The husband tends to find faults in her and the wife tends to complain on him. Both speak destructive words causing much discomfort between them.

One day, the wife slipped and hurt her knees. She phoned to the husband for comfort, but was greeted with sarcasm. “You are old and useless now. Your limbs are clumsy!” The wife was furious and had to seek relief from sons. In another incident, the husband had been coughing for over a month. Many visits to western medical doctors yielded no benefit and the wife groaned. “You are always so stubborn. Money all wasted. You should have shifted to a Chinese medical doctor sooner.” They are like that, exchanging provocative comments that are destroying their relationship bit by bit.

The time bomb eventually exploded. The switch clicked when they talked about friends. The husband said, “You see! Old Johnny’s wife is so young. Bob has just re-married in his hometown, to a pretty 30-year-old!” The wife found the comment unbearable and rose to fight.

This is a snapshot in an old couple’s lives. However, this is very relevant nowadays. Just look at the papers to see fault-finding & complaining words. Like any other behaviour, spoken words can create and destroy. They are a reflection of the speaker’s inner world. A peaceful person will speak pacifying words to promote harmony and an angry person will litter provocative statements to create conflicts.

To foster peace in your family, community and the world, one can start from within. Do a major clean-up and discharge all “toxins”. Send out positive rather than destructive words. 