Shut Your Damn Mouth
(originally ranted in 2001)
Have you ever noticed the endless stream of garbage that comes out of most people's mouth? It's shocking. We're not limited to just profanity here. I'm referring to the constant stream of negative commentary that we hear and spout all day. And I'm the Queen. This editorial is affectionately dedicated to me.
We're such a society of complainers and curmudgeons. We gripe about our ex-president, but we don't like the new one either. We're never happy with the fact that we are blessed enough to vote and take part in choosing a man to lead our country. We're not elated that there's actually someone out there who is willing to be subject to endless scrutinizing and backbiting while he attempts to push us on to greatness.
We say things like, "Thank God it's Friday" instead of thanking God that we're not unemployed. We whine about our paychecks, though they are the very bread we eat. This is especially stupid since we spend half of our work day on ebay and sending emails.
We wax on about the price of a movie ticket rather than being thrilled that it took less than ten bucks to make us laugh, cry and dream without boundaries for a couple of hours.
We detest our utter and complete lack of time, though we never complain about that hour and a half we spent sipping lattes and smoking.
We decry our children's constant motion and jabbering, rather than falling on our faces in adoration when they bestow on us the greatest earthly gifts one can receive: putting their little stars for hands on our cheeks, being called Mama or Dada, and unconditional love.
We argue over there being no volunteers for our church day care, but act like we've been asked to part with our spleen when it's our week to help out.
We complain about people wanting to interrupt and talk to us all day, yet we never feel blessed that someone actually wants to spend time with our miserable selves.
We all hate Dr. Laura, but at least the woman has an opinion that she's standing up for. Too bad she's the most negative of us all. Even worse, I listen to her every day.
There is so much power in our words. We can lift people up or bring them down. We can be thankful for a blessing or detest our situation. Nobody want to be the Truman Show, but maybe if we can't say anything nice, we should say nothing. Since the majority of words that come out of our mouths are damning, maybe we should just shut our damn mouths. |
