Words Hurt

Words hurt.  There is a difference between being strong and being heartless.  No matter how many walls we may put up it does not defend against words, why is that?  Perhaps it has more to do with the individual that is speaking the words and their intent with those words.  I know that people say things out of anger, I just think they everyone should think before they speak.  Once those words come out of your mouth there is no taking them back.  Most times words are so much stronger than actions or lack of action.

After giving much thought to how some negative words have made me feel I have decided to receive the words differently.  I have no control over other people, how they act, what they say and how they conduct themselves.  What I do control is how I receive the negative words and if I let them effect me.  I know I need to receive the words in order to deal with specific situations, however I no longer have to allow those words to change how I view myself.

A great example happened this week.  In the heat of mean, negative words I was told that I must be having a midlife crisis to be living my life the way I currently am.  I listened to these words and really gave them so thought.  I'm 40 years old and I feel better than I have in many, many years.  I never worry about what others think of me, I like who I see in the mirror and I take better care of myself.  Honestly, I am finally being true to who I am.  A wonderful friend said something that really helped.  She said I wasn't having a midlife crisis, I was having a midlife realization, that life was not a dress rehearsal.  She is right.  I made a decision the day my doctor told me that I was HIGH RISK diabetic; I was living life, not just walking through it.  I deserve to be happy and my children deserve a mother that is healthy.

If caring about myself, my kids and my life is a midlife crisis then I am thankful to being having it early enough in my life that I still have time to enjoy the new outlook.  I am not sorry that I am taking the time to be a little selfish and work on me.  I want my children to see that it is never to late to change negative behavior in anyones life.  Life is what you make it.  I will no longer sit back and wait for happiness to come to me, I am the creator of my own happiness.