Sticks and Stones

Today I am alone with work and a cold. I have such deep thoughts on Dayquil. Let me share.

I have decided that gossip and complaining are two of the biggest life-suckers out there. I’ve always thought of my fight with my words as a self-control battle. Really though, I only need self-control as a last-ditch, emergency E-brake effort. I should slow that bus down way sooner than that. If I think the best about people – friends, professors, classmates, siblings, clients, impatient people behind me in the fed-ex line (maybe that happened today) – I will not have things to say that could potentially hurt them. There is a difference between repeating facts and repeating facts in such a way that I will appear funny/smart/superior/saintly and the other person will appear lame/dumb/scummy/worthless. You might think that I would never do this. I do. But never about you I am sure.

And after the complaining and gossiping is all out of my system, it’s not. Everyone needs someone to vent to but really, I have to watch out. There’s not really such a thing as venting. I mean, when is the last time you vented it all out and had nothing but sweet purities left behind in your heart of gold? Not me, dude.

This isn’t about words – it’s about an outlook, an attitude of the heart, a way of thinking. Shout out to Roommate Erin, she is the BEST about this. She has never met a person she didn’t like (that she told me about), she thinks the world of most people and she lets them know it. I love this about her.

So, in a very selfish effort to enjoy people, work, and life even more than I already do, I am going to work on this. And since I never really keep anything to myself, now you all know.