Open Mouth, Insert Foot

“A fool uttereth all his mind; but a wise man keepeth it in until after.”

Proverbs 29:11

Let me start off by saying that I don’t read my Bible every single day, and I’m not going to pretend that I do, however, this morning I was spending a few moments reading in Proverbs when I read the above verse…repeatedly.  I tried to read past it. I reread the entire passage. I tried to skip over it. I flipped back to the New Testament. I even put my Bible down and walked away!! But I came back to this verse, those words, a lesson apparently I needed to learn.

As a child, I was raised to be a strong young woman.  I was a Wagner after all, and the Wagner women were notorious for being opinionated and strong-willed, full of spice and spunk!! Grammy made sure all of us girls knew exactly who we were, and was the first to remind us when we had forgotten!  I was a loud, bull-headed little girl full of sass ready to give anyone a run for their money! (At  almost 37 I’m not a whole lot different, I’m sure The Hubs would attest to that!) During my first marriage, I lost a lot of myself…my voice, my spirit. Thankfully, Grammy was right there to kick my butt back into gear…to remind me of who I was and to teach me to be a tough cookie once again.  Even now, I feel her presence looking down on me with (sometimes tough) love, guiding me through life when I feel like I need a little encouragement.

For most of my adult life, I would say I had “no filter” on my mouth.  If something was on my mind, I would share it. If it was unkind or ugly, I’d follow it up with a “just sayin” or “I’m only being honest”.  I’ve been known to cuss (like a sailor and I’m really, really working on this). I’ve been known to lose my temper and yell when something doesn’t go my way, or my child fails to move at the speed of urgency that I expect he should. I have a tendency to get butt-hurt when someone says something unkind, and then I take it personally and the next thing you know (*gulp*) I’m saying something ugly and hurtful right back!! I’ve been guilty of gossiping with girlfriends. The list goes on and on and on…but I think I’ll stop before I’ve shared every single negative attribute I have and ostracize myself from my loved ones!!

Clearly, there is a reason this verse stood out to me…I’m in need of heeding such a lesson!! I don’t have to say everything that pops up in my little brain! I don’t have to be “brutally” honest with someone about when they ask my opinion. (Maybe I should listen to Thumper after all, and remember that “if you can’t say nuffin’ nice, don’t say nuffin’ at all”!)  I should not only be slow to anger, but think about what I’m saying before I say it. After all, we can apologize repeatedly when we have hurt someones feelings, but we can never take back the words that were said.

Do any of you struggle like I do? Do you have any helpful hints or other scripture verses that help you through?

Until Next Time: Peace, Love & Adventures

Jess xoxo