The Value In Words

A wise man once said, "Give me an army of 26 men, and I will conquer the world."  His army of 26 went on the be one of the most influential battalions in the American Revolutionary War.  The same army was employed in Europe and resulted in the spread of Communism and eventually World War II.  Of course, these men were not of flesh and blood, but merely the letters of the alphabet.  What it boils down to is that our words we use and the things we say may have a greater impact than we might have intended.  They may also have a meaning far lower than the phrases were meant to convey.  

One thing that has really bothered me recently, is the word love.  It started when my girlfriend told me she loved me.  Great.  I believe it.  She really does love me.  Five minutes later, however, she mentioned that she loved the snow.  In a sense of humour, I replied, "I thought you said you loved me?"  After the laughter subsided, I began to think.  Just one word can have so many different meanings.  Love can be both the strongest and dullest of them.  I began to count and notice the times I said love and what I meant by it daily.  What I found was that almost 90% of the time, it was a shallow meaning.  It was almost as if love had become a replacement word for like, or even enjoyable.  Since then, I have noticed a sharp decline in use of love in that sense.  It has made me far more reverent of it and appreciative when it is said to me.  

I am not attempting to change the way you speak, but merely stating my mind. Isn't that the point of this blog?  And yes, I am in Starbucks.  Just as an expirament, try counting the number of times a day you say the word love every day.  You can even write down what you "loved" and how much you loved it.  Try it!  The results will amaze you.