Day: August 23, 2014

Cruel sentiments
Sometimes boil over
Into conversation.
Our inner critic
Is contagious.

What we think,
And how we feel
About ourselves,
Sometimes gets projected
Onto others.

We have been criticized
By someone in our lives,
Someone who is
Very important to us.
And, so, we do the same.

Sometimes,
I catch the critical words
Before they reach my mouth,
Realizing,
They are not what I want to say.

It is so automatic, though,
That sometimes, it bursts out,
Undetected,
Until it is too late,
And, like someone once did to me,

I hurt someone
With cruel words,
Insensitive, critical, judgmental.
And, most of the time,
I don’t really mean it.

It just pops out,
Because it is part of who I am.
It doesn’t matter,
If I reject it as wrong
In my head.

I must take responsibility
For my harsh words,
My condescending attitude,
My cruel disposition.
I must admit my mistake

To those whom I hurt.
Even if it means,
I am going to be
Knocked down
A few pegs.

I don’t need to be
High and mighty,
Anyway.
I need to be humble,
Honest, compassionate.

I need to be,
Just me.

How are you?
Slowly, you answer:
“Fine. How are you?”
Is that all we have
To say to each other?

Sometimes, it seems,
We hide in the small
Comfort of our secrets,
Never daring to shed
A light onto our struggles.

Sometimes, we don’t
Want others to know
How we really feel,
Or what we really think,
About them, or anything else.

We’re afraid to admit
That we have weaknesses,
Afraid to show
All our flaws, our doubts,
Our insecurities.

What’s funny is,
That we all have
Lots of problems and issues.
We all doubt.
We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t.

So, is it that we think
We have to be super-human?
Perhaps, all the crazy ads
And beauty magazines
Make us think this.

Perhaps,
When we were raised,
We weren’t permitted
To be human.
We weren’t allowed

To be less than perfect.
We were punished,
Maybe, even constantly,
For sharing our feelings,
For asking for help.

Maybe,
We weren’t encouraged
To think for ourselves.
Maybe,
We weren’t allowed

To doubt, to fear, to cry.
Maybe,
We couldn’t express ourselves.
Maybe,
We weren’t allowed

To be creative,
To experiment,
To just be us.
It is a sad culture,
That does not allow

For children,
Or adults,
With problems.
We need to embrace
Each other’s issues,

To encourage each other
To be honest,
To be sincere,
To come out of the closet,
To be ourselves.

Please,
Tell me the truth.