My son and my husband had a huge disagreement about something and it did not end on a high note. I was shaken. I guess I do not do well with strong disagreements. I have always been that way. As a child they called me “Nicey.”
Ugh!
Was I too soft? Do I just want to always be in la la land, like my favorite Doris Day and Rock Hudson movie? Am I afraid of the implications of a disagreement?
Well, needless to say, I was sad and fearful.
What was it about the argument that shivered my timbers, I thought to myself?
Then all of a sudden, this nursery rhyme popped into my mind: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Wait a minute, you mean words are not as deadly as I always felt they were? Words do not break bones? I could be free to use my words, always with respect and love in my heart, and speak my truth?
Ahhhh…the art of healing.
In the next instant, this veil of fear was lifted, and words held no power over me. No bones were broken. Words can not do the damage I thought they could, my illusions have kept me stuck in mud.
Eureka! Words can not truly harm me…
The verbal altercation between my husband and son was just a stressful moment for both of them, it did not break a bone. To continually stress over this experience is the most damaging. Stress in itself can kill ya!
In gratitude for this message…
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words he nursery rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” was first reported to have appeared in The Christian Recorder of March 1862, a publication of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, where it is presented as an “old adage.”
