Search A Light In The Darkness

Tuesday 8 December 2009

A Moment of Pause

You may be in a talkative mood today and find yourself speaking animatedly with friends and associates. Since this is likely to add some lively energy to your conversations, you may also feel a temptation to be glib or misleading with some of your statements. Though this temptation may be harmless in most situations, it could also set you up for repercussions at a later time, and you may want to give more thought to the intention behind your words before speaking today. Simply pause before responding to others in conversation and consider the true message you want to share and why. You will likely find that these short moments of introspection can help you keep your discussions headed in the right direction.

Clarifying our intentions before sharing our thoughts with others can help us keep our conversations productive and meaningful. While we don’t usually intend to take our discussions to a counterproductive level, it is easy to get carried away and speak before we think. If we instead take just a moment to clarify the intentions behind our words, we can affirm that we are contributing to discussions in positive ways. Not only can this help keep our interactions with others productive, it can also strengthen our conviction about our ideas because we have taken the time to mentally work through our thoughts before verbalizing them. A moment of pause before speaking today can be the difference between productive conversations and frustrating exchanges.