I recently read about a middle-aged man who has been struggling with
chronic depression for many years. His counselor told him that he
would need to be on antidepressant drugs for the rest of his life. He
told the counselor that his father, a self-made head of a large
corporation, repeatedly said to him, "Son, when you inherit the
family business, I expect you'll ruin it."
"These words stung more painfully each time he heard them. When his
father died, the man felt driven to work unreasonably long hours to
prove his dad's prediction wrong.
The pressure to avoid failure that
relentlessly gnawed at him was quieted only by alcohol. Soon a
serious drinking problem developed. His wife threatened to leave him.
Finally he succumbed to ongoing depression for which he could find
relief only in drugs. His life was devastated by the power of his
father's tongue."
I was once told that
I was physically ugly. It took me years to
overcome that one sentence because, tragically, I believed it.
However, I have since learned that it had more to do with the person
who spoke those words than it had to do with me.
With words we can bless or curse others; encourage or discourage;
hearten or dishearten them. They can be powerful motivators or de-
motivators. Let's always use them as an instrument of healing and
encouragement—and never use them to hurt, demoralize or destroy
another.