Forget about zipping your mouth!

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all”, said Thumper the wise.

I know so many people who are so vocal with their criticisms that whenever you have the opportunity to get away from their presence, you grab it.

But have you ever met someone so positive that you cringe to be around them too?

Hello, Read, nothing fancy talk around here, just a regular blabbering by dear old me.

A friend of mine back in college was a daily charmer.

She was way older than me and had a different approach to life. (Perhaps I am a bit too cynical with my world views. The bad experience prompted it, trust me.)

You see, I never really understood her positivity. I find it suspicious if all praises and if there are no negative words directed at me, not even in teasing. Every day you hear "You are beautiful", "You're great", and all sorts of positive adjectives from her. Do you also cringe like me?

We Filipinos are used to sarcasm, much worse for Cebuanos. At home, when we say something positive, there were always underlying meanings to it. For instance, when someone is mad at you for not doing your job. One would say, “You are such a good sister. You always follow my orders.”, but the tone and implication meant otherwise. That is how we were.

So when I met this friend, I was wary of all her actions. I thought she was laughing on the inside, but when I met her family, her entire lot is the same. When they visited our boarding house, I was amazed to realize that everything she showed me was pure niceness, politeness and there is no hidden agenda involved.

That is why this time, I learned to accept compliments. I learned to return them too. I love these kinds of people. Gentle souls that influence sarcastic people like me. We have a different take on showing our love, my family and me. We were never gentle folks. We do it with teasing and wearing each other's patience.

I guess her positivity rubbed off on me because now I applied it to my kids and my dealings with people. I truly and genuinely can appreciate people for who they are and compliment them. And I try to always find the good in them although, there are times I'm tempted to say negative words.

Saying nice things are freeing too, you know. When you praise somebody for what they do and tell them how beautiful they are, you will boost their confidence, creating and developing great characters. I am not saying we should not reprimand or completely ignore bad behavior, but positive words do have power. They break curses and bring forth blessings.

So, let those praises rain down. Let them pour out of your mouth and spread out love!

Quoting from Luke 6:45: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

So let us play nice, perhaps?

Hahahha! Just kidding! We're not all cut out the same.

Thanks for reading my nonsense anyway.

Until next time!

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