Sticks and Stones and Words do Hurt…

I love this quote by Will Rogers – “Live so that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip…”

What if all our private conversations were somehow shouted from the rooftops?

What if every word we said in anger, every insult ever uttered, every rumor we shared in confidence was suddenly amplified in one fell swoop and the whole world knew?

I remember once not hanging up my cell phone properly and proceeding to say some ‘not so nice things’ about the person I’d just got off the phone with. Needless to say – I was immensely embarrassed by my words and made a vow then and there to always ensure that I’d hung up the phone properly before starting to “bad talk” anyone.

Not quite an admirable response I know. Old habits die hard.

So I invite you to take this challenge with me:

Let’s all think before we speak for one day.

Nothing gets us into hot water as quickly as words coughed out in haste.
Nothing hurts others more than our words do.

One day at a time. Monitor how you’re going. Catch yourself when you’re about to share something that was shared with you confidentially. Stop yourself when you engage in mindless gossip.

Then wash, rinse and repeat.

If we keep this up, then hopefully we’ll break this bad habit that only serves to break us and others down in the process.