If you can’t say anything nice…

…don’t say anything at all.

It sounds so cliché, something our mothers once told us. But there was a reason why our mothers used this phrase and other similar things, because they are good things to live by. Most clichés that are overused are done so for a reason, because there’s a real message there.

To be honest, I think that we should consider these phrases more important than mere clichés and make them popular again.

Saying something mean or cruel, is just that mean and cruel. Even if the person doesn’t here it directly, words can hurt. They may hear the comment repeated by someone else, they might actually hear you, or you can affect someone else’s judgement of that person unfairly.

There have been a number of occasions where some cutting down of another person or people was going on, and I always join the bandwagon, heck, sometimes I even start the engine myself. It’s an easy laugh, people will join in with me, it gives us something to enjoy together. And it’s mean. Here is a perfect example of choice. Just because I haven’t thought about what I’m saying, doesn’t mean I haven’t made a choice. I have chosen to say something mean or nasty about another person. We need to really think about things we say before we say them, I definitely do.

As a people…all people…need to be less selfish, while still being self-aware, we must be aware of others around us. Taking other people into consideration. Consider the cliché “Treat others the way you would like to be treated”. You wouldn’t want someone cutting you down, making fun of you, even someone you don’t know, so don’t do it to someone else. Because remember… “What goes around, comes around” ;)

The more people become aware of how their choices and actions affect others, the better things can become.

And remember…thank your mother for the wisdom she imparted to you. She said stuff like this for a reason.