Have you ever wished that your words were like a fishing line? 

     Ever cast your line only to find that it ended up far from its intended target? Perhaps dangling from that low hanging branch you were so sure you could avoid? I would imagine that anyone who has ever gone fishing has had this happen at least once.

      This can happen with our words as well.  

     Have you ever had something come out of your mouth that you wished you could reel back in quickly, before anyone noticed? It seems that sometimes our mouths work much, much faster than our brains. We hear our own words spill out of our mouths and then wish immediately we could take them back. . Perhaps it wasn’t even the words that were the problem, maybe you just used a tone of voice that was much harsher than you intended. I bet anyone with children can relate to that.  Maybe we’ve had a bad day or are just in a rotten mood for whatever reason.  

     Unfortunately, once the words are out, they’re out. Dangling from that tree for all the world to see. You can’t reel it back in. Your bad day doesn’t really matter any more. So how do we avoid situations like this?  What do we do if we slip up and say something in the  heat of the moment that could have been worded differently or was better left unsaid at all?

     I would love to hear from some of you on how you avoid these situations, or how you have handled it if you’ve found yourself in this situation in the past.