PROVERB: Be sure your brain is engaged before putting mouth into gear.
Tuesday afternoon I went into tell my boss that I would be out Wednesday due to my mother's surgery. We chatted for a while. He said something and I agreed. Then he chuckled "you didn't hear what I just said, did you?" I realized that I hadn't and confessed. He had joked that if anything bad happened he would blame it on me. We had a good laugh, but the story rings true: I'm not the greatest listener in the world. But I'm not alone.
It's so hard for people to change. Or listen. Or to speak without thinking about what the ramifications will be for what they're saying. I'm the worst.
People just have to have the last word. They can't let the other person have the last word. Does it really matter? Why do people always have to convince everyone else that they are right?
Why can't people just let others be wrong? They'd rather have a 30 minute argument (that doesn't resolve anything) than just let the matter drop.
I write this to remind myself, as well as others in my life. I hate to see people I love arguing all the time. Not that my method of staying quiet and withdrawing is perfect.
Relationships between two imperfect humans are tough. People may read these words. My prayer is that we could all implement these words into our lives. Let God live and speak through me instead of being so selfish and putting myself first. It's not easy.
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