pipe it, woman!
i have to tell myself this all. the. time. i have a motor mouth. yes. it’s a gift. it’s a curse. mostly a curse.
sometimes i say things in response to someone and then suddenly feel like i’m having an out of body experience, wondering…“did i say that??!?!”
i also have a motor mouth. and it’s usually filled up with gasoline and ready to go. oh yes it is. it likes to run. at high speeds. mmm-hmmm. sometimes it says cute things. other times it manages to release a nugget of wisdom and encouragement. and too often…it just wastes peoples time. i can spend 5 minutes just to say a 13 second meaningful piece of information. that’s 4 minutes and 47 seconds that dear person will never get back.
ecclesiastes 6:11 the more words you speak, the less they mean. so why overdo it?
do you have a problem with this? do you ever run your mouth? get yourself into trouble from it?
inProgress 
mums the word…. zip it tight… throw away the key… How could she wear that in church? *&%*$ don’t you know how to drive? Do you pay the light bill?
I had walk in the snow for 3 miles to school, what are you belly aching for?
((Sound familiar in your head?)) Well I have said it.
I have flap jaw itis. according to my first grade teacher Mrs. Flegal ((true story))
I have learned now that I am almost 42, that I really really really and can I say really again to dramatize my point have to watch my mouth and words.
just sayin..
i tend to be quiet, but with people i’m close and comfortable with, i can go on and on and on… i, too, need to zip my lip!
Ummm… have you read my blog? It took me 2 photos and a video of Mary Katherine Gallagher to say that I caught a cricket.
In the real world though, honestly, I’m a listener. It seems like I talk on the phone for hours but it’s usually about the other person’s stuff and me saying “Uh-huh” or offering advice like, “No. Killing your husband isn’t the best option.” Supportive stuff like that.
sara
Thanks, Sara, for that reminder… (killing my husband…)
I don’t think I do it so much as my husband. People always try to jump on what he’s saying because they figure out his point 2 minutes into his 7 minute explanation.
If you ask a question, he’s like those essay tests because he repeats the question as part of his answer. “What’s your favorite color?” “My favorite color would have to be, um, blue.”
I run my “mouth” on weblog comments and during fights – I can’t seem to hold my tongue then.
Oh Amen my sister! Yea, I get in trouble all the time, I formidably used to here these words often, ” Think before you speak.” Yea, still don’t do that very well.
I wonder if the verse relates more with prayer to God, because letting our words be few, as it says somewhere else in the bible, creates a good and healthy conversation between God and us. Just saying a few things and then being silent. If we are the ones talking, and that’s all we do in praying, then we are pretty much just having a conversation with ourselves, God hears us, but if He knows we aren’t being serious enough to be reminded He is the Alpha and Omega, The First and the Last….and we don’t show that while praying…
how opt is He to really answering the prayers of venting? Hmm…
[its 3:27am guys, I just woke up, so forgive the rambling!]
Saving you 4 mins and 47 seconds of your life… (and mine)
‘Yes!” to all three!
😉
<B
Words have GREAT power over us and those we communicate with – so we should only use them sparingly and wisely!
if i say that often enough i MIGHT just pay some attention to it myself. 🙂
<B
Hmm… interesting….???
I just read my bible and thought you must have mistyped the quotation verse or chapter because my Eccl 6:11 is nothing like what you wrote?
Your version (which i was more than happy to go along with since i recalled something very similar in my bible readings) says it is the WORDS we speak that diminish in meaning the more we say. So don’t say so many words.
But the quote i have reads:
11Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
Ecclesiastes 6 (KJV) which for those who find KJV hard to follow means: man does many things that serve only to increase his self-pride and do nothing to improve him in any really valuable way. So why do that sort of thing?
The idea being that man is better off following and searching for God’s Wisdom in himself and passing on that legacy to others.
The passage you quoted COULD be read in similar fashion – but i doubt that many people would do so?
When it comes to sharing His Wisdom, sometimes (not always, but sometimes) more words – not less – are called for, providing we can share His Wisdom accurately and not paraphrase the actual wisdom OUT of what Scripture has to give us.
I have to agree though that more words can often make meaning meaning-Less. I especially tend to find this in some sermons i have heard when selecting many verses to ‘prove a point’ more often end up in the preacher proving how wrong his understanding was than how Wise He is. 🙂
<B
We’ve started playing a new game in our house. It’s called “He who speaks first looses”.
Sometimes it’s more important to listen to others…I’m working on that.
Uh…loses. My apologies.
@love, depends on which translation you use. I went through about 20 this morning, and have say something similar to what the KJV says, and the other half say what Tam’s posted version says about words.
Here’s some other verse to cross reference (doh, does that make me one of those preacher types, haha!):
Job 13:5
Proverbs 10:19
Proverbs 17:27-28
Matthew 6:7
James 1:19
James 3:2
I think my favorite is Job 13:5 (HCSB) If only you would shut up and let that be your wisdom!
…and I’m guilty as charged about using too many words. Sometimes it works, other times I crash and burn and nobody know what the heck I say.
My wife says I’m the only person who always ends up right in an argument even when she knows good and well that I’m as wrong as a dark brown toupee on a man with gray “underhair”…and that is definitely wrong!
I’m so, so, so glad you chose to give me the 4 minute version rather than the 13 second version. yep. i am.
consider taking up sign lanugage, you can say many things w/ just a shake of the hand…so they say.
yes. yes. i do.
yup!
I’m become very careful about this as I get older! When I was younger, my mouth got me in a lot of trouble. I’ve carefully learned what to say, and what information I should or shouldn’t share with others. I was a learned skill. Thank God!
Nope.
How far back do I have to go?? The last 30 minutes have been quite good, well – no one else is here — mama is having a prayer group at the prayer cottage – so just lonesome me here – boring you all with frivolous words. Gotta pack, going out of town overnight shortly.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
😉
Ummm…yes.
As my most recent post reveals. 😳
Love you, TammyJo.
Russ- I love Job 13:5 as well, and in the Holman…solid advice for most of the time..
I am guilty as charged..I am praying for my tongue to be bridaled..I have come a long way, but still have a long way to go.
An old woman who used to mentor me…used to smile alot at me and say.. “you better get ahold of that tongue” we would laugh, but we were serious too. **sigh**
@Russ H – Good quotes and good work! – and you’re not one of ‘those’ preachers until you type for an HOUR, only to trip yourself up over your own train of thought! 😉
<B
I can ramble with the best of ’em. But I usually talk slowly. My attempts at humor are the times my tongue gets me in the most trouble.
I do love to say a LOT using the fewest words as possible.
Yes, and even in the middle of it all – my brain shouts “STOP” and my mouth keeps running. I can relate to Jenni’s husband “they figure out his point 2 minutes into his 7 minute explanation.”
A good clue is when the person you’re talking to starts doing the “eye dart” thing, looking for an escape route or someone to rescue them. Hmm, maybe that’s why eyes are not the first thing I notice about someone?
I completely relate….sometimes what I am thinking comes out my mouth and then I have to say,”did I just say that out loud?” That usually gets me in alot of trouble. If I ever get quiet and don’t talk, then people know something is wrong with me or that is their cue to leave me the heck alone!
Guilty on all the above charges. If my brother comes on here today he’ll agree…he’s on a trip though. Shew. See…now I just rambled on about that.
My brain is running all the time. It is going faster than I can talk! I guess that’s why I’m on the creative team….I always thinking of the next idea..
OH MY, DO I !!!! Just ask my Pastor… (PSquared)… yup… it’s a curse and half the time I don’t even realize what I just did!! THAT’S the real curse… 🙂
My natural tendency is to run my mouth. It is a problem I have worked very hard at for most of my life. I would guess that I am fairly good now at choosing my words, something that only took me 65 years to learn. 🙂 I was that annoying kid in class who raised his hand to every question. I was not popular. 🙂
i always got really good grades except in the “talks at appropriate time” column…. i still suffer from this….
OH MY! You just described me to a ‘T’ (whatever that means…why not to a ‘j’???)
I MUST say something to everyone. Even the clerk at the gas station. I must must must must say something. I cannot just quietly pass people by. URG!
I feel like I am verbally assalting them with my chit-chat. If only it was something meaningful!
Oy. I mostly have a problem with this when I’m nervous. But usually I am tight-lipped to the point of rudeness, which is no better.
Yes…
love you and miss you. and I have no oreos…
errrt!?!
What’s this about oreos?
Darn, now I’m craving them – and here I was, just glad I didn’t have anything more to say. Ruined by the cookies of wonderful goodness…
@brandiandboys: I just did a post about that… every year the comments section on my report card was “Sara is a joy to have in class. She talks too much.” I decided that it was a premonition as it’s pretty much described my whole life. 🙂
yes
I love this question!!! I love, love, love studing personality types and learning styles. I taught junior high before the boys were born and then trailed them subbing in their elem till Julia came home a few years ago… that said, I am always taking some sort of class for education or parenting that might offer credits to apply to my teaching certificate, gravitating to “how people are wired” type classes.
Here’s a snap shot story from Gary Smally’s (relationship dude) Four Personality Types Made Easy:
Lion – leader, take charge
Otter – fun, fun, fun
Beaver – detailed, logical
Golden Retreiver – counselor, natural helper
If a teacher had a classroom and asked each group of animals to spend a weekend in the wilderness with NO electricity or ammenities, the lions would argue over who’s in charge. The otters would sneak in a generator so they could also sneak in tv’s to watch movies. The beavers would do research before going to make sure they did it right. And the golden retrivers probably wouldn’t go because they would be afraid their family would not make it with out them.
The lions and beavers operate on the left side of the brain (logic).
The otters and beavers operate on the right side of the brain (concept).
My guess is you are very right brained, conceptual, feeler, sensor, intuitive, sort of person. This is what makes you a lovie dear and an artist/singer.
That was fun.
Hope you enjoyed.
xoxox,
Roxx
Tam,
I have to back track a bit. The creator of lion, otter, beaver, g.retriever was John Trent. He and Gary used to do seminars together. Anyway, I Wikpedea-ed the info, here it is:
John Trent
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Dr. John Trent is an award winning author of marriage and family books such as The Blessing. He is the creator of the Lion, Otter, Golden Retriever, and Beaver (LOGB) way of looking at personalities. He is the President of StrongFamilies.com and the Center for StrongFamilies both are organizations committed to strengthening marriage and family relationships worldwide. He and his wife Cindy have been married for 30 years and have two daughters Kari and Laura.
sorry my friends i havent been around today…ive been a little up in the air.
i have loved reading your comments as theyve come into my phone at each airport! i have loved it! thank you!!!!
love you all. really!
i.am.so.glad!!!!
Doesn’t everyone have to work on this? I’m with Alece – I tend to let my words go when I’m with people I know very well … but still. My tongue has other things it needs to control than just the abundance of words. Well chosen words are just as important.
I believe God has been working that out in me in the last year or so (ouch). I can say that in some situations/with some people, I’m able to bridle my tongue and in some, not so much. I do like to talk though and have to ask myself how much of what I’m saying actually serves a purpose?
My nickname growing up: radio. Everyone claimed they wished they could shut me off!
More than once yesterday and today I’ve thought about that soft part of how you talk. I wasn’t expecting it, but I think it was my favorite…