How many of you have heard the saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones but your words will never hurt me?”

Trust me, we all have, yet we all have been faced with with those hurtful words thrown at us no matter who we are — based on race, age, wealth, addiction, beliefs and so on.

With the Barry and Lawrence County Narcan Outreach, I recently spoke on stigma at two local events.

Some say they understand, yet are so quick to judge another.

Bullying doesn’t happen just in our schools, it happens everywhere in some form or another.

We tend to only open our eyes to it when we see it happen to our children, but as parents — the ones our children look up to — we do it the most.

It’s a topic nobody wants to see within themselves.

How many times do you judge someone?

It may be by the way they look or dress, or just saying out loud, “She was rude,” or, “He isn’t in a good mood.”

Don’t forget to stop and think about it. Maybe they are struggling with depression, the loss of a loved one, or not knowing if all they need is a smile or a simple prayer.

Be the light. If darkness is taking over, don’t allow the love for others to grow cold.

Ask, where is the love in your heart to actually show someone that it is OK? It gets better.

We all struggle with hurt, habits and hang-ups in life.

We are to walk in love by serving others to encourage, to avoid gossip.

Simply choose what is in your heart.

Hurt people hurt people. We get so busy in our own lives anymore that we forget a simple smile can make someone’s day.

Galatians 6:3 says if you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself — you are not any more important.

Take the moment to really think this month as school starts back up on this scripture, as well as Exodus 34:5-7.

The way you love passes down the generations.

Watch how you show love and how your children see you.

Do they hear you be quick to judge, or do they hear you speak kindness? Do they see you give a helping hand?

Take time and truly evaluate yourself before evaluating another.

Holly Rivera is a member of Celebrate Recovery, does outreach for Barry and Lawrence County Narcan Outreach and helps lead recovering addicts in paths forward. She is 16 years clean from methamphetamine and 3 years sober from alcohol, as well as a public speaker on the topic of addiction and recovery. Rivera may be reached at hollyrivera21@gmail.com.