My Fundamentals — Speak When Prompted

I don’t think it’s appropriate to recklessly seek out others and blabber unless there is real actionable intent

Photo by Adam Solomon on Unsplash

Last week I “wrote” about silence, and like all my thoughts, it led me down another path that many of my ancestors once trundled.

I have so many thoughts racing through my mind that it feels like a Black Friday crowd trying to get through a small door. I’m always on… 24/7; it’s an incredible magnificent curse.

I always have something to say, and yet, ironically, I grew up with a stutter. Could the two be related? Most likely, I interpret this as the universe preventing me from overdoing it, as I described in my past posts on stuttering.

I became a chronic texter out of insecurity, especially in my adolescence (e.g., MSN). I stop myself most times nowadays. I don’t think it’s appropriate to recklessly seek out others and blabber unless there is real actionable intent (sharing memes don’t count… in moderation of course). It represented an avoidance mechanism and to alleviate my boredom on someone else’s time.

It’s hard to admit that to myself. I always wanted to speak without a problem, but it was a desire that led to endless suffering. Most folks talk unprompted without care, meaning, consideration, or substance. I don’t want to be that kind of person.

I haven’t yet figured out my balance on approaching this new path, but this is what Vedic philosophy calls the concept, notably Buddhism, the “middle way.” I’ll make mistakes and receive criticism, but at least I know my intent.

Photo by Luke van Zyl on Unsplash

Word count: 244
Twitter: @bhavprajapati

My Fundamentals Series — For the indefinite future, I’ll be writing posts about my renewed fundamentals to live by. I’m not making recommendations or providing medical advice, rather I hope the posts serve as thinking prompts. My intention here is to help people review their own life. I trust readers have the agency and wherewithal to take their own action.

52 | 250 (fifty two | two fifty), a collection of random, recurring, ruminations written with patience for depth and brevity. Each post is written over the course of a week in 250 words or less as a personal exercise of freedom and focus in a time of placid tumult and despair.