You Have a Superpower

In a lot of those annoying quizzes that spam my Facebook feed, there's this question that goes: 'which of the following superpowers would you want to have?' Then it has things like flight, invisibility, telepathy, etc. etc. There's one power, however, that they miss.

It's a super power we all have, yet very few people realize it. We use our power every day- often without realizing it. It affects everyone around you, and everyone around you has it. We have access to this power almost all of the time. People everywhere are constantly using it, to bring life, and to bring death. And you and I are no exceptions. What is this superpower, this ability we all have, yet no one seems to know about?

Words.

I know what you're thinking. 'Words aren't a super power. They're just, you know, words.'

But they aren't just words. Proverbs 18:21 says 'the tongue has the power of life and death.' Your words have the ability to give people life and to bring people death. As Adrian Monk would say, 'it's a gift... And a curse.' There are tons of Bible verses talking about the power of words, and I could quote all of them. Here's another:

Proverbs 12:18 - Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the words of the wise bring healing.

We speak hundreds of words every. Single. Day. Every time we open our mouths to say something, we have the power to change people lives. So many people waste this power, talking trash about others, whether it be their friends, their enemies, that celebrity everyone hates so much. Anyone and everyone. So many people waste this power by holding it back, by not speaking up when they need to defend someone else, God, or themselves. Don't be one of those people.

Today I want to show you the two main ways you can use your words.

1. To Bring Death

I once read a book about a girl who heard everything any person anywhere in the world said about her. Praise, criticism, gossip. Everything. (The book is called Claim to Fame, and it's by Margaret Peterson Haddix.) Imagine what that would be like, if you heard everything someone said about you. You'd know if that cute boy at debate club likes you, what the 'cool kids' think about you, and what those blank-faced judges thought of your speech. Now let's switch things around.

Imagine if that girl you called fat in private heard what you said. Imagine if that celebrity heard you call them ugly. Imagine if that one debate team heard you make fun of their case.

Imagine if people heard every word you spoke about them.

 People have hurt you with their words, haven't they? They've said mean, spiteful things, they've gossiped about you, spread rumors about you, and killed you a little inside every time.

And you've hurt people with your words too, right? You've said mean, spiteful things, you gossiped and spread rumors. And each time, you killed them a little inside. We can make excuses for the words we say: I was mad. It was in private. Their case really is crazy. We can make excuses, but they will never excuse the deadly words we speak.

That's a little extreme, right? But it's true all the same. The words we say to someone - anyone - can affect them for years and years- trust me, I know.

We can choose to use our mouths to bring death, no matter who we are or who they are. And this, far too often, is what we (and what I) choose to do. We can be insult someone, criticize something we shouldn't criticize (like their natural hair or eye color.) We can gossip about about them, spread rumors, and say those bitter things. Or we can choose our words in the other way.

2. To Bring Life

Last year, after weeks of building up the courage to do so, I sent an email to a girl named Chandler. I had been reading her hilarious blog, and she had just written a post about not giving up, a thing I am somewhat of an expert on. I had wanted to talk to her before, because I love the blog. I got to watch two of her finals speeches at NITOC (although I hadn't spoken to her. I swear I'm not a stalker), but I couldn't work up the courage to go up to her and fangirl about A. her speeches, and B. her blog.

But I wrote an email to her about a month later, talking about my experience with failure and giving up and not giving up. It was a weird thing for me to do. I'm not really one to comment on blog posts, or email strangers about their amazing writing. It feels awkward, but I wish I would do it more. But I emailed Chandler. And she emailed me back.

I saved the email she wrote back in a Word doc. And I saved the file in Dropbox, because I didn't want to lose the kind words she said to me. (And it's a good thing too, because my laptop is busted. RIP: My Poorly Functioning Laptop.) Here's one of the things she said to me in the email (well, a paragraph of things she said to me):

     "You and I know something your judges don't know. You, Hadley Jones, are a fighter. You're dedicated. You know failure isn't the end. I have no doubts you'll come back next year swinging and ready to hit hard. I don't means in terms of competitive success, because I have no idea what the future holds in that regard. Like I said, I can see speech means a lot to you, and that's why you have to be careful not to let subjective placings define you. Instead, let the fact that you are willing to present your ideas to a panel of strangers and not be intimidated define you. I know you will succeed."

Chandler used her words to speak life to me. Almost a year later, those words still mean so much to me.

You can choose to use your words like Chandler did. I guarantee it'll pay off. It may not benefit you, but to those you speak life to, it's priceless. Don't waste your words on insults and slander. Don't stay quiet when you need to speak love into someone's life. Use this invaluable superpower for good, not evil.

Vote affirmative, but more importantly, speak love and speak life. (And go read the book Speak Love, by Annie F. Downs. It's fantabulous and goes much deeper into this subject.)