The power of words

I was looking at another blog and was astounded at some
of the negative comments people leave for others:

I remember reading something not long ago that said:
"Choose your words carefully! They can have the power to lift
others right up and the power to pull them right down"!

I'm sure those of you that have kids old enough, like myself, have taught
them about name calling and the 'sticks and stones' metaphor
and how to just move away from someone if they aren't the
company that they wish to keep!
But how many of us are living by what we are teaching our kids??

This is a metaphor I heard that I think we can all learn from....
Buddha is renowned for responding to evil with good.
A man heard about Buddha and what he stood for and decided
that he would try his hardest and put Buddha to the test.
Whilst in Buddha's presence this man verbally insults him
over and over again, to which Buddha remains unmoved.
Buddha then say's to the man " Can I ask you a question?" the
man said "What?"
Buddha said " If someone gives someone a gift
and they choose not to accept that gift , who does it then
belong to?" the man responded with "Well of course the person
who first tried to give the gift" Buddha said " That is right,
so if I reject your insults and abuse , does it not then
belong to you?"

Something we probably already know, but put in black and white
can be a real reminder.

I think we only take on board others negative opinions of us
if we doubt that part of ourselves to begin with. Where we
have certainty in us there is no desire to try and convince
anyone of anything or justify to them , it just is the way it
is.
Usually when someone is putting someone else down or trying to
make them look insignificant its because they are feeling
insignificant about something themselves.
So maybe when we feel the need to insult people we should
really be taking a look at our own life to see what's missing
in it and work on what we need to improve on our self.
If we are honest with ourselves every single one of us have
issues in our life and making our way through it can be
hard enough as it is sometimes, so if we can not contribute positively
or say something constructive we would be
better off just staying away and saying nothing at all.