DIRECT COMMUNICATION

Have you ever had someone say something about you behind your back that was unkind? Better yet, did anyone say something to your face that made you angry but you said nothing? To tell the truth, what someone says to you that ruffles your feather won’t matter a whit five minutes or five years from now but it is the in between time where you stew and fume and the committee in your head is ready to wage war that is the bummer. What to do? Keep reading.

The best way to handle something that messes with your mind and nervous system is to be direct. When someone says something to you that is demeaning and particularly without merit, speak up and calmly stick up for your self. Not letting a slight or a mean word fester will give you greater peace of mind. I have no idea where suffer in silence got the gargantuan life it enjoys, but not having upfront and straight talk with someone who has injured you to your face with a sharp tongue is crazy and unhinging.

Something that you hear second hand about you is like they say in court, “inadmissible.” We all from time to time let our hurtful loose lips flap and although we think we are being hip at the time, bad news spreads like a paper mill stinking smell, do exercise constraint of tongue. But if you hear something that someone supposedly said about you, let it go—give it no life. Talk is cheap and the less said to anyone the quicker the sting will go away.

If there is a lesson to stick in your day timer from all of this is to practice addressing someone directly when they hurt you. Do not let five minutes or five years go back. Take a deep breath and speak calmly and without embellishment. Straight talk is always the best policy when you don’t want to let other live rent free in your head.