Watch Your Tongue

I admit it.  When I was a kid I could be sassy, a real snot.  I knew sarcasm and used it freely.  Maybe it was teen-age angst.  Maybe I was just an impatient, impertinent, impolite brat at times.  My guess is that it was a misdirected attempt to exert power.  How stupid.  In retrospect, I wish I had done what my mother often admonished me to do and "watched my tongue."

Watch Your Tongue...Ha!

Now smart-Alec that I was, I would actually try to watch my tongue.  I would get cross-eyed and ultimately, I could never see more than the tip of my tongue.  That is, of course, unless I looked into a mirror after being sent to my room.  By then it seemed pointless to watch my tongue, so I would go to bed.

Okay, I know the coded meaning of this warning.  Be careful what you say.  Mind your manners.  Be nice.  Bottom line: don't be a jerk.  Well I guess it finally sunk it.  I do watch my tongue now, in the metaphorical sense.  My tongue is for savoring delightful tastes and help my teeth chew.   It is also for helping me communication, in a respectful, mannerly fashion.  

Next time you feel the urge to be petty, to make a caustic remark, to lash out, remember, tongues are not for lashing, and that's not what they do.  Tongues are our friends.  Use yours wisely.  Remember an acid tongue burns.  It burns not only the intended target, but any kind of self-respect you may have earned.  Be kind.  Speak softly.  And of course, watch your tongue.