At times I have been amazed at the tactless or blunt things that an elderly person has said. Just to clarify, this is not common to all. I wonder if I will be like that when I am older. I've been wondering what makes people say things. Were they always like that? Is it just part of becoming older? Do they forget what it was like to be in a younger person's position? Or maybe they just are not as encumbered by social pressures? They feel no need to be cautiously polite? Perhaps that's a good thing.
But then I think, maybe it's because practice makes perfect. Maybe it is not that an older person is any more blunt or seemingly inconsiderate, it's just they've had 40 more years to practice. I think of all the times I am prompted in my heart not to say things. At times I listen, and with gratitude pray for more discretion. Other times, I say what I want to say anyways. What if I continued to ignore those little nudges? What if every time I thought of something, I just said it. Would I become more and more calloused and thoughtless. I think so.
Life is made up of little choices. Right now I am practicing to be the person I will become. Take eating for example. I would not wake Monday morning and proclaim that I am a healthy eater. My husband would question me about the cookies and the sugary cappuccino I had the day before. But if I woke up Monday morning and chose fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. and then did the same on Tuesday, then Wednesday, then the whole month, I would have become a healthy eater by my little choices.
I do not want to grow old and be a critical gossip, or slanderer, or even merely a thoughtless person. I want my speech to always be full of grace, imparting life to the hearer.
I do not want to grow more prideful with age. I must practice humble responses now.
As they say, practice makes perfect, so be careful what you practice.
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