The Power of Your Response

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There is a lot of tension in our country at the moment, and it is reflected in our social media. There are even more incendiary posts than normal, and the responses have intrigued me.

I am so grateful to live in America where I have freedom of speech. I believe everyone is entitled to an opinion, but the reflection and research behind that opinion matters, as well as the way the opinion is expressed.

I read a post that warned people about using reactionary speech. When I hear the word reactionary it makes me think of a response that is given without reflection. It is driven by emotion, not thought. This type of reaction can be dangerous because we often discover later that we should have looked for more information or took a deep breath before jumping to a reaction. I had a situation recently when the illustrator for my children’s book sent me illustrations that were unacceptable. It was obvious they had been hastily done, and even though I gave very specific instructions for edits, those changes were not made. My daughter began to tell me how awful they looked, and I let my emotions escalate the situation. After calming down, I realized it was only several things that needed to be changed, so I sent another request for edits. Reactionary responses rarely end up well.

I saw a beautiful reaction to a social media post yesterday. A woman said, “If this is true, this is unacceptable to me.” Another woman claimed it was fake news. The first woman had researched the topic and respectfully replied, “I don’t think so. I researched it and found it to be true. What is your evidence that it is fake news?” There was no reply, but that is the way we should be able to discuss topics. We need to control our emotions, research the topics, and discuss them with respect.

Silence doesn’t seem like a response, but not saying anything can seem like acceptance, and that can be dangerous too. I like to take a minute to see both sides, and to hear the whole story before I react, but there are times when we have to make our voices heard to maintain the quality of life and values we enjoy in our country.

Words are so powerful, and they have consequences and repercussions. Ignorant, hateful speech will only cause more issues than we already have. If we can unite as a nation, I know we can do great things.