How many times have you heard this cliché? I can’t even count the many times that I’ve heard it and it usually comes coupled with a “be careful what you wish for” but I am only going to focus on words today.
Many times the things that we say could get us into serious trouble. And here I am not only talking about the deep “when you say so and so about yourself it becomes your truth.” I am talking about trouble with other people. Be it colleagues, friends and even family. I have found that there are three basics that work for me when it comes to making sure that my words don’t catch up with me in a negative way or influence my relationships negatively.
1. Avoid profanity
Most of my peers think it is okay to substitute every second word with the f word. I can also recall a number of times where I’ve used it where it was absolutely not necessary. No matter how much you feel that it helps you add emphasis or emotion to what you’re saying, not only is it offensive to many, it is also plain rude.
2. Religion, sex and politics
I find that I spare myself and others a lot of misery when I keep my strong opinions on these topics to myself. The flip of the coin though is that at some point we have to talk about these because conversation is where understanding comes from and without conversations about these, we accept our own opinions and don’t allow others’ to share their own and potentially give us perspective. The key to doing properly is to be tasteful in how you state your viewpoints and allow others the same courtesy.
3. Gossip and bad-mouthing
There is a culture of gossip and bad-mouthing that starts in high school and unfortunately for many they never unlearn it. We all know of rumours that spread like wildfire in high school and had bad implications. I have found that even know in my adult life *cough* there are still gossips and people who badmouth others. Engaging these people is compromising. Not only will they badmouth the next person, they will badmouth you to the next as well. And if you go as far as talking about others with them, they might mention all the things you said about that person and exclude what they said, making you the villain.
I’ve found that avoiding these three have given me so much peace and helped me avoid a lot of unnecessary drama. Don’t let your tongue get you into trouble.
