I came across this post on Facebook, and I was immediately struck by the truth it conveys. While there have been a limited number of instances in my life when a single sentence shocked me into a starkly different reality, changed my life path, or altered my outlook, those times impacted me tremendously and will remain with me for the rest of my days.
"One sentence?" Sometimes that’s all it takes to set your life on a whole new path.
Here are a few memorable examples from my life:
“Don’t panic, but your brother is in the hospital.”
I was in graduate school, well over 1200 miles from home, when I received a much-later-than-usual call from my mother. When she uttered this particular phrase in a voice that told me that she had been crying only moments before, my heart sank. My only sibling had gone to bed in his college dorm around 10 that night, only to awaken with severe chest pains. His quick-thinking roommates rushed him to the hospital, where he was treated for a rare malfunction of a heart valve. He was 19 years old at the time.
I felt nothing short of trapped. I couldn’t be there for my parents, who immediately went to be by his side. I couldn’t run errands or do chores to make life easier for my immediate or extended family. And I certainly couldn’t help my brother, who was confined to a hospital bed in the middle of Philadelphia. That was the first time in my life that I remember feeling totally and completely helpless.
My professors were fantastic; they all agreed that my reason for travelling home was legitimate and each one was willing to work with me. My friends offered to pay for me to fly home instead of having to drive nearly 18 hours alone. I got cards, calls, and emails from friends around the country. The love and support that was offered was absolutely amazing. Without that outpouring, I’m not quite sure how I would have come through.
“You’re going to have a baby today!”
I heard this somewhat self-explanatory statement from a very sweet and perky nurse after slowly and carefully waddling into the labor and delivery unit at our local hospital two days before my oldest daughter was due to be born.
Having never gone through labor or given birth before, I was in denial about the imminence of my situation. Looking back now, nearly ten years and three children later, it was undeniable that I was in labor; the only missing piece was my water breaking. I was in considerable pain for nearly 12 hours before my husband insisted on driving me to the hospital, but it was the nurse speaking these words that brought me to reality. I was about to be a mom… for the rest of my life.
“They found a mass in his lung, and the outlook isn’t good.”
These words were spoken by my mother as well. At least this time I was less than a mile away.
In April of 2012, my father got a headache… a pretty severe one that lasted a few days. While he had had his share of health problems for years, headaches had never been an issue. After a visit to his family doctor, an MRI, a CAT scan, and a consultation with a specialist, the doctor gave my mother the bad news: my father had a brain tumor that needed to be removed. Long story short (you can read a more detailed version of the story here), he came through the operation with flying colors, but a biopsy of the tumor revealed that it was, indeed, malignant and had metastasized from his lungs.
My father had stage four lung cancer and was given only a 5% chance of survival beyond eight months.
After a very long and grueling eight months, we buried my father on January 2, 2013. My friends turned out in force once again, but my heart, my life, and my family will never be the same. And it all began with that one phone call… and a single sentence.
These are very specific instances that are unique to my life; of course, your impactful sentences and their situations will surely differ.
We have the power and the ability to be malicious and hurt others with our words; however, we can also be kind and use our words to comfort and heal. The choices you make with your words may make the difference in someone else’s world. Choose wisely.
Your task:
Please take a moment to think about some of the single sentences that have impacted you and helped to shape your reality. Please use the comment section below to post below at least one sentence that has impacted you, and please tell us why and how it did so.