But the question is, where does this acknowledged power come from?
Is it the speaker themselves bequeathing it through the words?
Or maybe the listener, receiving the words, (along with their perception of their meaning,) subliminally grants power to them? After all, if someone says something they don't really mean, (and for argument's sake, let's say:) that in turn gives the words less power, can the words not still affect the person to whom they are directed towards?
What I mean to say is, whether the person speaking actually MEANS what they are saying or not, the words themselves still have some innate power.
But the listener, the recipient, I believe, has a higher authority, to decide how the words will affect them.
Initially, I'm sure, harsh words will hurt anyone.
Though after a bit, you can decide what to believe. What is true and real. And what is just... words. You can turn that cold power into something positive- something to fuel you and make you stronger. That is all your decision.
I don't pretend to fully understand our weird social patterns and why we do, say, and think the things we do, say, and think. But words do have a power, even if it's beyond our understanding and reasoning and need to explain. Our part is deciding how that power, that energy in those words, affects us; which direction it will steer us. Whether it pushes us harder and faster down our path, or halts us only for a moment before going back to our intended momentum, or veers us totally off down a winding dark alley, all rests in our choice to let it stick, let it go or let it propel us.
"What do I do with this backpack full of bricks, of sticks and stones and words that stuck to me like ticks?" This songs breathes the question... and DECIDES to let it be. To let go, "brick by brick, we can be free, of all the words we say til we are our own enemy." Because that's exactly what happens when we accept those lies others throw at us. We become exactly what we never wanted to be. We fall short, not in worth, but in potential, between who we are and who we could be. We become our own worst enemy.
So please, whoever you are, I urge you to not let those bricks and sticks and stones weigh you down. Don't let those little shreds of untruths slip inside your soul. Let it go, no matter how long it's been there. Let it be. "...Believe in the person God intended us to be."
The more you drop, the lighter you'll be. The better, the faster, the easier, you can keep on swimming.
