This year I have been working on not saying anything about someone that I wouldn’t say if they were in the room. This was a litmus test I could run in my head before engaging in gossip.
The experiment has grown. Like my awareness of what I was eating grew into an appreciation for the cost to the enviroment and the animals I no longer choose to eat, this awareness of negative speech has carried past gossip.
On a recent trip my wife and I stood in line with three mid-twenty young men. One was carrying on, rather insightfully, about how to take ownership for a mistake at work. The problem was his language. He cursed just like I do. The F-word was used for emphasis, the S-word for anything negative in nature and the MFer for special exasperations. Aside from inappropriate (their were families in line) I was struck with just how ugly the words were.
Like many of the big changes I’ve made in my life over the last two years, it was clear in an instant what I needed to do. I turned to my wife. “I’m done swearing.”
I cursed three times yesterday and only once today. I know its not going to be easy. I’m given to foul language. But I’m going to try. Like the emphasis I try to bring to say positive things instead of negative whenever possible, I’m going to equally work on the quality of those words. We’ll see how it goes. Wish me luck. Tips are welcome 😉
“Remember, the universe is the echo of our actions and our thoughts.” Dalai Lama
219,000 Minutes of Emptiness 