Today’s Sunday Chat is going to be a little different than those before it. I had a moment this week where this quote came to mind and I felt compelled to write this post. It’s kind of more of a “stream of consciousness” post, so I apologize if it feels a bit all over the place, and I hope you get what I’m trying to say by the end. Okay, here we go.

“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did.
But they’ll never forget how you made them FEEL.”

I know what you’re thinking. This is probably one of the most overused quotes out there on social media. We’ve all seen it somewhere. We’ve read it, recognized it, and moved on. But its message hasn’t dulled or lost its truth, and this week I found myself in a situation where this rang completely true.

Like I’ve mentioned before, I started a new job this summer. I’ve been here for about 2 months now and I really like it. You guys may not know this about me but I’m a pretty shy person by nature. I was painfully shy as a kid and though I’ve grown out of it significantly since then, I still have my moments. So anyway, I’m still getting used to things at work and getting to know all of these new people, so naturally I’m just not as chatty as I’d normally be with friends or family.

But this week, one of my coworkers made a comment towards me essentially saying that she forgets I’m here sometimes because I’m so quiet…

Excuse me?

In hindsight this should have been funny to me because you can ask any of my school teachers from any grade ever, and they will definitely be shocked to hear that someone said “Kacie is quiet” lol.

But on a more serious note, this comment threw me off because she was essentially calling me forgettable, something I’ve never been told before and quite frankly, that nobody wants to hear. And this really shook me because I just wouldn’t say that to someone. I would never tell someone that they’re forgettable. No matter if I meant it maliciously or not. And I spent the rest of the afternoon questioning myself, as a result.

Am I forgettable? Am I weird? Should I speak more? Force myself to be more outgoing? I was spiraling. (I also admit that maybe I’m just being overly sensitive here…)

But that’s just not cool! It sucks that her mindless comment made me feel inadequate and forgettable. Maybe she didn’t mean anything by it but it still struck a nerve. And it sucks that this happens to people ALL THE TIME. And that it’s only getting worse in the age of social media where we have cyberbullying running rampant and keyboard thugs who leave hateful comments on complete strangers’ posts.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, we all need to try to speak with more intention and empathy. Think before saying something to someone, because you never know how your words can affect them. Even if you didn’t mean anything by it, words can hurt. I think we all know that by now. This post doesn’t have any grand ending or big message behind it, it’s just a simple one:

Be kind to one another.

I was talking to my best friend the day that this happened, and she said something that really stuck with me. She told me to note how I was feeling in that moment, and to remember it when another new girl inevitably starts at my job. This is important to me, because I’ve always lived by the rule that you should treat others the way you want to be treated. Like I said, I was painfully shy as a child. And as a result, I ended up being excluded from a lot of things with the other kids. So now that I’m older I always try to make sure that I’m not excluding anyone, because I know how that feels.

Treat others the way you want to be treated. Speak with love and kindness. Use your words intentionally and to spread love. And this world may just become a better place for all of us. Have an amazing Sunday, friends!

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