Answer Me with Silence

Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all.

Though I try to act in that respect I find myself sometimes talking rather than speaking. Sometimes I hear what I say to friends and family and am either
a) amazed that I can be so astute, thoughtful, or funny or
b) ashamed and inwardly telling myself to shut-the-hell-up in mid sentence.

I tell people that I have chronic foot in mouth syndrome, some nod knowingly; they feel where I'm coming from, others look at me like I have a disease obviously thinking I told them I have hoof and mouth disease (btw, they're two separate things). No, I talk without fully thinking through what I will say; I speak from the hip as some people say. While what I say can be funny and witty I have on occasion hurled an insult without expecting to, and inevitably, later feel the guilt thread through me.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent on the Christian calendar. Lent represents the 40 days and nights that Christ walked the desert and Satan tried to tempt him. Lent for me represents the time when I can try to be a better person. So, for Lent I will give up talking rather than speaking. I will make a concerted effort to say only relevant things and actually listen to my family and friends when they speak and to know when to answer by speaking and answering with silence.