Everyone's Talking About You!

Some family birthdays were coming up soon, so I went to the local superstore and browsed the card racks. Those of you who know me understand I like to choose cards that make people laugh. In my search, I picked up a card that did indeed make me chuckle. It read:  "It's your birthday, and everyone's talking about you! In a good way, though, not like normal."

But later, those words started coming back to me. They reminded me of a conversation where someone couldn't remember another person's name. To clarify, the person said, "You know, the mean one." The really sad thing is, I DID know who she meant.

The question we have to ask ourselves, then, is whether we want to be the person everyone talks about as "the mean one." Or, you can substitute any other adjective-- the grumpy one, the nasty one, the angry one-- you get the picture. In many instances, we become known by the words we say and the way we say them.

How do we talk to others? Do we try to encourage them? Do we affirm their worth to us? Or do we try to "help" them by repeatedly pointing out their faults?

Believe me, I'm "right there" with everyone else when I look at my life and wonder whether someone somewhere is referring to me as "the grumpy one," "the mean one," or some other less-than-flattering name. What can we do to avoid this? Maybe the best thing is to ask God every day to help us be kind to others and to speak only words that will build up. Ask Him to guide us in being sensitive to the way our words affect others. And when we fail (as we probably will), we can ask God to help us gather the courage to apologize to the person we've hurt.

So here's to all of us gaining a new sense of how our words define how we're known to others. And may our birthday cards be uplifting ones, chosen because they reflect that quality in us.