12 GAUGE SHOTGUN MOUTH

12 GAUGE SHOTGUN MOUTH 

The word “consequence” is defined as a result or effect of an action or condition. My fear is that soon, this word will no longer be in the dictionary. We seem more often now than not, to ignore the meaning of the word or it’s existence all together. We have started confusing the word “freedom” with the word “rude”. Our freedom of speech does in no way, shape, or form mean that we can say anything that we want to every second that it enters our mind. Don’t get me wrong, you can certainly bellow out your opinions whenever you feel the need to do so, but there WILL be a consequence. You will in turn hurt someone deeply, lose a friend, and you can even lose your career. So yes, you are “free” to do and say what you desire, but there will be a “consequence”. Seems like a lesson that we were taught in kindergarten, right? So why is it so difficult for grown adults to practice this simple action of being “polite”? The answer lies in the word “intolerance”. While being outwardly intolerant towards the things that scare us or make us uncomfortable, we have become much too “tolerant” of belligerent behavior. When did it become acceptable to verbally abuse another human being because we are “having a bad day”? By doing this, now we have ruined the victim’s day, and does that now give the victim the right to ruin someone else’s day? The practice of “paying it forward” has now become “charging it backwards with interest” because there is always an expensive consequence to volatile behavior. Just because you have freedom of speech, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t practice quietness sometimes. Since when was it acceptable to be outwardly arrogant and spiteful? Believe it or not, there are alternatives to the pouring out of harmful words. Walking away, agreeing to disagree, appreciating someone’s diversity for what it is, practicing a tolerance for someone that is of a different political viewpoint than you, and respecting our elders regardless of our age. It’s all too easy to turn off the television or log off social media if something has the power to make you that angry. We have to stop shooting stray bullets out of our mouths.While we can’t take back the hurtful things that we say, we can start giving each other a break because we all need one sometimes.