Today... I just want to say something quick... just about the way we express ourselves... I know, you probably wanted me to say that I was going to share another recipe! I promise I'll have one on Monday! :) How about those chicken Tacos I owe you? Ok... deal! ... But for now I just want to talk about how important it is (even for our own image, not only out of compassion/love/respect for others) how we express ourselves...
I've come to known some people that whenever you ask them something their response is INVARIABLY negative! And even when they say something nice then they add a little something at the end that turns it into something dark or horrible... And I am not talking about people who suffer depression or have something horrible going on in their lives, I am talking about "happy, common" people who just seem to have decided that "positive or kind" would not be part of their personality! It really seems to push me away from them, whether I want it or not... I really try to stay and get to know them better... but it is hard! Let's see an example:
- Me: "Hi, thanks for calling, I am happy I am getting to know people here since we are new in the area"
- Person: "Don't get used to it, people here barely care for each other!"
- Me: "Oh well! Then double thanks for calling! I am hoping to make friends!"
- Person: "Oh! No! Don't make friends here! When you finally make friends people move or something happens and then you end up alone"
- Me: "Oh! Ok... thanks for the advice, so you were calling to let me know about this event, where will it be?"
- Person: "oh yes, it will be at ______________ but you might not even want to go... it will be extremely hot! It is horrible"
- Me: "Oh! Ok.... are you going?"
- Person: "Sure... We always go, we haven't missed it for a few years now... but it gets way too crowded and...."
-sigh-
Other kind of people that tend to even scare me... and make me wonder "why?"... it's the kind that are always willing to give too much information... and not just information but BAD INFORMATION and the information is not about themselves but about others:
A very similar conversation to this happened in public:
- Person #1: "Hey, who else didn't show up? I am taking attendance and I want to know who else was supposed to be here"
- Person #2: "Kristy (fake name, obviously) isn't here"
- Person #1: "Who is Kristy? I don't remember her"
- Person #2: "Kristy, the lady that brought cake the other day"
- Person #1: (loudly in front of everyone) "Oh! Yeah! the one whose son was supposed to marry this girl because she was pregnant but then ended up not marrying her" (fake situation but pretty close to what she shared)
- Person #2: "ehem... yeah."
I wish I could say the examples above are very isolated but I've seen these people time after time continue to express themselves like that... I wish I could say I've never complained too much or probably shared more information than I should've (of course in the posts above I tried to make sure nobody would recognize the people who I am talking about to protect them) ... I think it is important to train our mind and tongue to speak differently... To speak blessings, to be kind and merciful, to at least have a nice attitude or to stay still and just not say anything at all!
I just thought I would share this here as a reminder for myself and for whoever might benefit from it out there... I think that especially if we profess to be devoted to God and others, we should try to be more aware of what we are really projecting, not even just because it's good and nice to others but even because our own image is usually destroyed when we talk like that.
Proverbs 31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
Happy Saturday!
© Paloma K
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