I try to avoid hurting others with my words. Sometimes, no matter what I do, I accidentally tread on the feelings of someone because of something I say. Even if I do not mean to do it, once the words are out, it is difficult to erase the effect that they have on someone.
Today, a dear neighbor took something I said out of context. I’m not sure if I could have phrased my words differently if I had known how he would take them. We were at an agency, trying to get some help for him in a financial matter, and I mentioned, thinking I was complimenting him, that he and his deceased wife were always nice to me. I used the past tense, unfortunately.
He quickly turned to me and said, “I’m STILL nice to you.” He certainly is. He is a wonderful, caring, helpful neighbor. I never meant for it to be taken the way it was by him.
We were caught up in the matters at hand, so I didn’t get a chance to clear the air. Tomorrow, I will try to make time to mention to him that he is, as he said, still nice to me. I do not want this dear person of 81 years of age to think I am ungracious or ungrateful.
In this case, I’m not sure that I could have worded it differently. Sometimes, in the past, I look back and see immediately how I should have phrased things in a better way. What can I do about it? There is a common saying, “Lord, help my words to be tender today, for I may have to eat them tomorrow.” It is a good saying. I might begin to build a habit of saying that wee prayer the minute I awaken each morning.
Lord, I need your help because, all too often, my words are faster than my mind; please be there for me, so that I do not hurt someone’s feelings accidentally or carelessly.
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