Sometimes ... I Think I Talk Too Much

I am not the person that I used to be. I've grown and evolved. I have come out of my shell. I've taken a few risks, gone on a few 'adventures', made new friends and tried new things. Oh ... and I've become rather chatty.

This 'chatty factor' bothers me at times. Am I talking without thinking first? Am I still listening to others? Have I offended anyone? Do I talk for the sake of talking? Or do I really have anything to say?

This morning's inspirational morning email made me stop to consider this:

Big Difference

There is a big difference between people who want to say something and people who have something to say.

Often, those with something to say don't talk much and those who want to say something won't be quiet.

~A MountainWings Original~

I remember being told (once upon a very long time ago) that because I spoke so rarely, people actually (used) to stop and listen to what I had to say. I was told this by a friend who was rather chatty. She said that she talked so much, that people had stopped listening to her.

Where am I on that spectrum?

Have I accidentally stepped over the boundaries of appropriate conversation? Have I unknowingly said something that was offensive to someone? Have I talked so much that I don't hear what others are trying to say?

A few of the courses that I have taken at school have made me stop and ponder this thought. A few quotes of late:

"We have two ears and only one tongue. Therefore, we should listen more than we talk."

"You can't listen if you are talking."

Emails are talking to me. Anonymous writers of a course that I'm taking are talking to me.

Chances are, if I'm so sensitive to what I am reading and hearing on the topic it is because I am guilty. My subconscious mind knows it, but my conscious mind is still catching up from the onslaught of words that I spew out on a regular basis.

Maybe it's because I'm relatively new to the business of chattiness, but I am still have days where the words of the day are ringing in my head at the end of the day. Those are the days that I know I talk too much.

But the days that I really worry about? Are the days when someone I know well, reacts differently around me. I am sensitive to the fact that I may have said something that I shouldn't have. Or not been as intuitive as I should have been. Or maybe they had something they had wanted to say and I didn't 'hear' them.

Those ... are the days I want to fix.

I should listen more than I talk.