The Unstoppable Mouth....

Have you ever spoken without thinking? Have you ever opened your mouth and said something, only to wish that you had kept quiet? Have you ever had the sinking feeling that comes with realising the power of your words when the damage has already been done? I certainly have had this feeling. Far too often. There are many stories that I could tell you of times when I have spoken without thinking... many, many stories... yet one in particular stands out in my memory. Anyone who has ever worked in retail knows that talking is an essential skill in this line of work. Every customer who enters the shop must be greeted, asked how they are, and asked if they require further assistance. Yes.. I know that this is very annoying for busy shoppers in a hurry... but be nice to the poor kids, they will lose their jobs if they don't ask you these seemingly unimportant questions. And if they lose their jobs, whose money will they be able to waste on the endless stream of superficial rubbish that abounds from the retail industry? Anyway... one day at Australian Country Living, I was doing the rounds and greeting customers. I came across a little old lady who had her arm in a sling. She'd clearly had her left hand amputated, so I put on my biggest grin and asked her how she was doing. She was such a lovely lady and told me with a smile that she was doing quite well. Without missing a beat I then added "Can I give you a hand today?". As soon as these words came out of my mouth the smile would have slid from my face. I was mortified. I'm sure a hand is exactly what this poor woman wanted... and it was exactly what I couldn't give her! Candles, ornaments, flowers, trinkets.. sure, we had those... but hands..... ugh.... I managed to stutter a feeble apology and retreated before I could make a greater mess of things. Sometimes it would be nice to have a rewind button in life wouldn't it? So long as this also came with a delete button... having to relive these moments would just be awful. It's amazing how easy it is for our mouths to kick into gear before our brains even have a chance to contribute. Fortunately this lovely lady was very forgiving of my stupidity, but I'm sure that this isn't always the case. I was thinking about the power of speech this week because I spent some time working with 3/4 year olds with cerebral palsy. Some of these children had hearing impediments and intellectual impairments as well. As a result, many of them could not utter a word. If these beautiful children were able to give us eye contact it was cause for excitement! So this made me think about how much I take for granted the ability to speak, and whether I use this ability well. Do my words uplift and encourage those around me? Do they speak the truth? Do they bring joy and point out the beautiful things in life? Or are they thrown around willy nilly, causing destruction and hurt? It is so easy to be flippant with the things that we say, yet we have been given a gift that we should use with great care. Words have the power to build someone up, or to break them down. They can insult or they can encourage. Words have many other functions, but I guess the point that I am making is that words are powerful. Think about what you say before it is said, and pplleeaassee try not to hassle one-handed little old ladies, they've been through enough already.