The Uphill Battle

As Mental Health Awareness Month draws to a close, I must share this post by my friend Jen, which tells it like it is regarding how mental health in the US is treated or, more accurately, mistreated or untreated. Read it, and let it spur you to action. Larry

Balance work and home life? Are you kidding me? I can’t even do tree pose.

Pivoting To Mental Health Awareness — Dogpaddling Through Life

Me vs. My Mouth

It would be great if I could speak only words of kindness and love and goodwill.

But then, I open my mouth and ruin everything.

Much as I may want to not ever say anything rude, mean or ugly, it still comes out. And I just hate that.

For one thing, God knows, there’s more than enough meanness being spewed by more than enough mouths that are better left shut. There is a desperate need in these times for words that encourage and heal and unite.

But, more selfishly, I just don’t ever want to say the wrong thing. Yes, I think I should be better than that. Is that really so much to ask?

Well, of course, because I’m human, it annoyingly is.

I am trying, you know. My time here is limited, as it is for all of us, and I want to spend as much of it as I can being a voice for love and goodness to all with whom I come in contact.

And every time I fail, it angers me. I can’t help it.

I think I owe that partly to growing up in an environment that had a low tolerance for making mistakes. That makes it hard for me to accept them in myself, because I don’t see them as simple missteps on the path.

I see them as serious character flaws.

It’s just something I need to work through, the frustration I feel when I say something unkind or malicious. I know we all say them, out of anger, out of hurt, out of spite, whatever the reason. It’s an unfortunate feature of our humanity.

So, any of you who find yourself on the receiving end of my venomous tongue, please know that I’m sorry. All I can say is, I’ll try to not let it happen again.

I do love you, despite what you may hear come out of this often mischievous mouth. 🤐🤐🤐