Thinking Before Speaking

I’ve said things I didn’t mean before.  I’ve spoken carelessly, or hastily, or hurtfully.  I’ve let exhaustion numb my mind before my mouth. I’ve used my words to be witty, or funny, or appealing, or in some way to what I perceived was ‘my’ crowd.  And…part of the embarrassment and blessing of that is that I’ve also always had people on hand to call me out and redirect that - or people who accepted my apologies - or people who taught me to do more thinking before I spoke.