Aging with Grace

Words matter, and the right words matter most of all. They’re all that remains of us.

John Birmingham

Words matter. We’ve heard this before, however it might be worth taking another look at. It’s so easy, in a time of excitement or anger, to say something we later regret. There are lines from the Norah Ephron movie, “When Harry Met Sally”, when one character says, “I take it back” and another replies, “You can’t take it back. It’s already out there.” That’s often the problem. Whether spoken or written, it’s, “Already out there”.

In the age of Messenger, Twitter and Facebook, to name a few, our words are even more important. What we say might be seen by hundreds of people and it never goes away. We can voice our regret. It doesn’t change that what we have said is still there. When I worked in business, I saved almost every email I received, filed under the name of the person who sent it. If there was a question , it could easily be referred back to. 

Remember the cliche, “Say what you mean and mean what you say”. Be prepared to stand behind you words. If there is a possibility you will have to back down from what you’ve said, better not to say it.