Be Careful What You Say - Part 2 in the Uncle Cliff Series

Snippets of my dinner with Uncle Cliff keep coming back to me. I imagine this is what it is like to spend time with a sage. What a great goal – to learn so much from whatever life sends your way that you reach a point in your life when younger adults consider you a sage, wise enough to make them think about your words days and weeks after you say them!

Anyway... I can’t even remember what we were talking about. But, Uncle Cliff looked me in the eye and he said, “We have to be very careful about what we say and what we do. People hear what we say and it affects them in ways that we don’t even know.”

This is so true! How many times have my children justified something they did or said based on something they heard from me? Something I may have said flippantly or in the heat of emotion, without really thinking? Or how often have I said a thing, only to realize that someone could have taken it differently than I intended and have been hurt by it? Yes, I thought, my uncle is very right. My words affect other people and I must be careful what I say.

But, then he went on. “We have to be careful of what we say even when no one can hear us.” Now, that was something! “I remember”, he continued, “I used to let myself get frustrated when I was alone and I’d say things that were not nice. I even let a cuss word or two fly out!” He grinned sheepishly at me. Both of us knew I couldn’t remember a time that he’d ever said a foul word.

“And then I realized how damaging those thoughts and those words were to me. They made me ugly in ways I didn’t even imagine.” And that was all he had to say on the subject. But, wow – did they make an impression on me!

He is absolutely right. No one can hear that negative talk in my head or the words I mutter when I am alone. But they do bring me down. They have the power to change my positive attitude. And, when that happens, they change the way I treat other people. I believe they also play a part in helping advance toward my goals – or slowing my advance.

Question to Ponder: What thoughts or words that no one else can hear are holding you back? How can you control your negative thoughts and words?