According to the saying, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
That’s a nice sentiment, and it’s meant to give you encouragement against gossip and criticism.
However, I believe that words do have power. They can create or destroy.
They do that by encouraging your own beliefs.
So the sentiment about sticks and stones is partially true, in that words from someone else can’t hurt you. But if you take them on and identify with them, or even worse, if you use those same words against yourself, then you can indeed get hurt.
What matters most are the words that you say yourself, and the words that you believe yourself.
The good news is that you can also say words that uplift you and that create the best version of you that you can imagine. You can speak your greatness into existence.
So go that route.
And leave the sticks and stones and nasty words alone.
