Sometimes we get so wrapped up in making our own dreams a reality that we don’t stop and realize that other people out there are trying to do the same thing as well. Other people in the world are working hard and striving every day to make their dreams a reality the same way that you are. And as we know, chasing after your dreams is no easy task. Sometimes you run into hiccups or snags, and going for your dream may actually end up causing you some stress. And when stress occurs, sometimes we end up doing things or saying things that we would usually not do or say if we weren’t stressed out. We may even end up saying some hurtful things to one of these other people who are also out there chasing after their own dreams. And instead of helping them out on their path towards achieving their dreams, we may end up deterring them from following them.

Words can hurt. It doesn’t matter if it’s coming from someone you know or a complete stranger because when words that are intended to hurt you are thrown your direction, those words tend to stick with you. Those hurtful words also tend to hurt more the more invested you are into something. If someone tells you that you’re not a good dancer, but you don’t really care about dancing then those words are less likely to hurt you. On the other hand, if someone tells you that your life-long dream of becoming an actor is stupid then those words are going to hurt a million times worse.

If someone has ever told you that your dream wasn’t valid then you know how much damage a few words can do. Even if you didn’t give up and decided to continue chasing after your dream, I wouldn’t be surprised if that negative comment still had the power to make you feel not so great about yourself, even if it was only for a little while. Mocking or tearing down somebody’s dream can end up doing a lot of damage to the person whose dreams you’re tearing down, especially if this person isn’t one to bounce back quickly from hearing something negative.

Positive thinker, if you are ever put in a situation where you may feel the need to say something to somebody about their life-long dream then it is an important thing to remember that not everyone responds to negative comments in the same way. Some people might get upset by a negative comment initially, but they might also choose to use those words to add fuel to the fire that they’re using to make their dreams come true. Instead of becoming discouraged by the words, they use the words to help them prove everybody wrong that told them that they couldn’t achieve the dream that they wanted to achieve. Other people might not have a reaction that includes them continuing to pursue their dreams. Instead of taking the words of the naysayers and using them to give them the extra push that they may need to finally achieve their dreams, some people may shut down because of these hurtful words. If you choose to spread negativity, these words may end up being the reason that this person decided to give up on their dreams. Perhaps your negative comment was the final straw in a string of negative comments that finally caused that person that you hurt to stop fulfilling their dreams. And maybe if you had decided not to tell them that their dream wasn’t any good then that person would still have chosen to pursue their dreams.

Positive thinker wouldn’t you rather be someone who helped another person reach their dreams instead of being that person who led someone to stop chasing after their dreams? Wouldn’t you rather be responsible for spreading positivity instead of negativity? And if you don’t want to make the decision to spread positivity, you should at least make the choice to stop spreading negativity. If you could have the chance to save somebody’s dream just by making the decision to not say hurtful things about their dreams then wouldn’t you want to do that? I know I would.

And I’m not saying to go out and tell someone a lie. If someone’s not on the right track to achieving a goal that they have told you about, then telling them that they’re doing a good job could end up hurting them just as much as telling them that their dream will never happen could. You can, however, give someone constructive criticism that could end up helping them to achieve their goals. Telling somebody that they should just go ahead and give up on their dreams of being an artist because they aren’t good enough can be hurtful, but telling someone that they can improve upon their craft by taking some extra art lessons may give that aspiring artist the extra help that he or she needs to be great. Constructive criticism and hurtful words are not the same things. One can be very helpful and the other can end up being detrimental.

So if you ever find yourself in a position where you could knock down someone’s dream or support it, ask yourself this question…

Will my next words help this individual to achieve their goals or am I just saying these unconstructive words for the sake of spreading negativity?

If you can truly say that your words may actually help someone to achieve their goals then go for it. Tell them positive thinker! However, if your words won’t help them then perhaps it’s best to keep those words to yourself because, “It only takes one negative comment to kill a dream.”