We are told that we should “think before we speak,” and the reason why we should consider well this wise adage, is words that are unthoughtfully spoken can easily create friction, conflict, hurt, and trouble, for when we fail to self-censor ourselves, and thereby to filter out those things that we know that we really ought not to say, it can create all sorts of havoc between ourselves and other people. While it is true, that we can get into trouble, in myriad ways, it is also true that those who get in trouble and uncomfortable situations the most, are those who are unable to tame their own tongue, thereby they are themselves the instrument of their own troubles.
In life, all sorts of thoughts will come to us, of which, it is our responsibility to determine whether or not what we are thinking about, should actually be expressed in words, written or verbal. For some people, one way to get around personal hurt is to put into writing what has come to their mind, not from the perspective that this is what they are really going to say or send, but rather as a means to let go of some of their aggression, by simply going through that exercise and then reading, and re-reading it, only to eventually recognize that what has been written, isn’t going to serve any good purpose, except perhaps to give them sufficient time to reflect upon such. Indeed, those who are tempted to respond back to others in a hurtful manner because they feel that they have been marginalized or hurt, need to understand, that not only do two wrongs, never make a right, but also, that not everything said to us, or text to us, necessitates an instant reply, but rather oftentimes we are better served by doing our best to remain calm, in which, as the heat of the moment begins to dissipate, we find that though those words may still sting us a bit, their overall effect to us, has been reduced, considerably.
So too, there are those people, who seem to suffer from their constant inability to self-censor themselves, and because they just can’t seem to resist saying what is on the tip of their tongue, they go right ahead and say what they say, never seeming to realize that not everything that we think of, needs to be expressed in words, because when those words aren’t of any good purpose, even if somewhat true, along with those words, not being of benefit to the other, we would be far better off, if we simply shut up, instead.
It is well to remember, that we as a people are human beings, of which some of us have thicker skin than others, and because we have feelings, we need to understand better, that wrong words can hurt, and words spoken in haste that are hurtful to those that we claim we love and care about, are the type of words that can have long-term implications for the worse, because a word unfitly spoken or angrily written cannot be retracted, and the hurt that we have thus created, may not be easily healed, or ever healed, and therein lies the reason why we should consciously monitor what it is that we say and send, especially when we know ourselves, how much hurt that wrong words directed at us, can create.