Limited. Silenced. That’s how I would feel if I could only speak twenty words for the rest of my life.   As if my voice wasn’t strong enough to hold on.  Like my voice didn’t matter enough to give it access to the door of endless possibilities.  And what would scare me the most is knowing that I wouldn’t be able to choose just twenty words to say.  

Questions would fill my head: How can I choose from the endless amount of words to speak? Could I survive the rest of my life without saying “hello”?  Wondering what I would do when words wash away like a wave on the beach.

Words are in everything that I do each day; all the ways I know of communication are through words. 

Talking. Every day I look forward to walking around with my friends and telling them all about what happened in my life and listening to them talk about theirs.  I need to talk.  On the days when I am silent in the back of the classroom, I can feel the need to talk creep up inside me.  I just need that chance to laugh at a joke with a friend or ask them a question when I seem to be lost.  I don’t like school very much, but being able to talk with my friends and classmates somehow makes it all a little bit better.  I’m not sure how I would manage if the words I use were all taken away.

Presenting.  Getting to share your work with others and showcasing what you’ve done is part of the validation from others that we all seem to seek.  That sign of approval when we’ve done something well.  When something we’ve been working tirelessly on is suddenly shown to the world.  Even when I get nervous to perform for a show or present for a competition, I fall back on the security that the words in my script hold when I’m afraid of failure.

Singing. Holds my passion and allows me to deal with emotions and hardships in life when talking about it can’t seem to heal anymore.  There’s no way to take out some of the words in the song and just leave it to the twenty best words because there are no “best” words.  Each word—chosen for a reason—holds significance to the story the singer is trying to convey.  And for me, each word is a gift that the songwriter lets me be a part of in sharing the true meaning and power of the song.

Words matter.  Words hurt.  Words heal.  Anything you say could be remembered by someone.  An insignificant point in time in your life could be just the opposite for the person standing right next to you.  Words hold power in anything and everything you do.  You need enough words to motivate people when they lack their own confidence, to explain yourself when people convict you, and to help others when all they need is someone to tell them it’s okay.  Twenty words aren’t enough for me and without every word, I would simply be limited.