everyday is a journey.
Why shouldst them fill to-day with sorrow
About to-morrow,
My heart?
One watches all with care most true,
Doubt not that He will give thee too
Thy part.
PAUL FLEMMING.
I knew it wasn't going to be a good week. In the space of two days I have offended two people and none of it intentionally. Was I mean? No, just honest.
When my daughter Emily learned to speak, all tact went out the window. That girl didn't know how to lie. She would always share her honest opinion, feelings and thoughts. I did say honest, right? She wasn't being mean, she just didn't know how to be tactful. I didn't know what to do with her, because one never knew what would come out of that mouth. I blamed her father and his family. That kind of behavior couldn't have come from me, no way!
After this week's experience, I hate to admit this, but a lot of my daughter's behavior actually came from me. That tactless mouth? All me. Why do I feel the need to be so honest?
Zipping our mouths can be more difficult than it seems. When we become very close to someone, we feel we can say or do just about anything. I've also found that when people confide things to you, they are not asking for advice. They are just venting. They need a listening ear that will not be judgmental, but somehow we feel as if we need to contribute some of our own sage advice. Funny thing, if we really were that smart, we wouldn't be making mistakes of our own, but that's another story.
Along with the tact, I need to learn to mind my own business. In our old place, we had these beautiful picture windows that took up almost the entire wall. I placed my desk right in front of that window so I could look out as I worked. When we moved into our current apartment, the windows were not exactly the same. Even when I set the desk in front of a window, I still couldn't see sitting down. One had to stand to sneak a peek. Emily would laugh saying that God wanted me to learn to mind my own business that's why we ended up with the windows that we did. She's probably right.
I guess learning to be tactful is a process that can't be achieved without a painful learning curve. Only way to learn something is to go through it. When we are faced with the consequences of our actions can we truly know the ramifications of what it is to mess up. Once that happens, I can assure you that we will be extremely cautious the second time around. We learn from our mistakes or at least, we should.
Have a blessed day everyone.
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