I borrowed some words from Steve Laube for today’s post.

His post is entitled The Power of a Single Word, and it captivated me immediately.

It made me think of all the times in my life when just one word either made a huge difference in the path I was on, or it didn’t because I dismissed it or I wasn’t paying attention.

Below are some excerpts from his post:

“According to various sources, there are about one million words in the English language. Approximately 750,000 of them are technical or scientific. That leaves us with 250,000 words with which to communicate. I doubt any of us know all of them or use them.

Interestingly, in his works, Shakespeare used about 29,000 different words, 12,000 of them only once. The King James Bible has 12,100 different individual words. In our normal life, we use only around 10,000 words to communicate our ideas, our emotions, and our understanding of truth.

You [we] are gifted with words, both spoken and written.

I find that when I’m angry, my vocabulary expands like a thesaurus; and I use that articulation like the sharp edge of a blade. Never to kill but to fillet. To carve enough pieces to leave my victim bloody and helpless. There is no pride in this skill. In fact, it is my greatest weakness. Nay, it is my greatest humiliation.

What if I–what if you–used that skill with words to bind wounds?
To give hope to the hopeless.
To give breath to the drowning.
To catch falling tears and turn them into refreshing joy.
To laugh a little, cry a little, love a lot, and pray even more.

You [we] are word warriors. Called to something unique and special.

Never let the machinations of this publishing industry cause you to deviate from your calling. Never.”

* * *

Thank you for allowing me to share your words today, Mr. Laube.

TKZers, can you think of one word, just one, in your past which made a difference–either positive or negative–to you?

For me–amongst many others–the word TRY stands out in my memory.

Comments welcome.