A Good Word

Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad. - Proverbs 12:25

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Stupid idiot, what's wrong with you? Everybody has heard these words echoing through the halls, but have you been on the other side? I have.

One question that was asked of me after school one day has lingered in my mind since the day it slipped out of the lips of a young boy. As a joke two kids asked if I had a disease or something. This shouldn't have been a problem, but the truth was I did.

I contracted a debilitating disease and the medication caused me to gain an excessive amount of weight. When I was put on these steroids the doctors told me about each of the side effects but they never told me I'd lose every friend I ever had.

Not many people remember me in the sixth grade. I was the girl who sat in the back of the room. Nobody realized I was there, not even the teachers. I would walk in and sit down never talking to anybody. I didn't have any real friends.

It was the lowest point of my life! I'm glad nobody remembers who I was. The months I spent in the hospital helped people forget. The hospital was great. Nobody there criticized me for how I looked. I wasn't laughed at when I couldn't do something normal kids could do. The hospital had become my escape.

Going back to school seemed like torture. Kids in the junior high were so cruel. There wasn't a day when someone didn't ask if I had eaten an elephant or if I were the new version of the Goodyear blimp.

Kids avoided eye contact and would move to opposite ends of the hall. Behind my back they called me cabbage patch girl. They never thought I knew. They didn't care if I stayed up all night crying. They never knew how bad it hurt. There were times when I would just sit and ponder my existence and question what it would be like for everybody with out me here.

So many things could have been done to prevent these feelings of despair. A simple "hi" without a smirk, a true smile; not a half-hearted attempt.

You see, this isn't just another story to me, it is me. Now I can look back on this and say it was all for the better; but at the time I was a child who felt lonely and forgotten.

One thing I learned is that each person, no matter what others may think, has feelings. A simple, yet most appreciated thing doesn't have to be big, it can take as little as a second but may change the day for a lot of people.

All it takes is a note saying, "you're awesome" or "I appreciate you." Try handing a note like that to anybody. Not only do they feel happier but you will be too.

There are too many youth who don't know what they're worth. They feel lost and forgotten just like I did. You could look through your yearbook and find those people, most of you could probably think of one now. These people are in your life today, but the average person chooses to do nothing about it.

But what type of person are you? Are you the one who goes out of your way to avoid someone, or do you make it a point to say hi? What you do in a moment's time, can have a tremendous effect on a person for the rest of their life. And as someone once said,"We are here to make people feel like a million bucks, not two cents."

author unknown

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Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. - Proverb 16:24

The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: - Isaiah 50:4



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