ideas things people

"brilliant people talk about ideas

average people talk about things

small people talk about other people"

i have heard this quote many times before, but was reminded of it recently and it resonated with me more than it ever had.  in the last few days of conversations i have let it guide my contributions.  listening to the words of others, i am catching myself before i "chime in" where it is not life-giving or honoring of people.  i try to remain quiet when it is another who is "stuck" in talking about others, and sometimes my silence is and will be perceived as agreement, which is ok, because i am not concerned with what people think i think.  if people walk away from me with the thought that i have agreed when i actually said nothing at all, then that is where they are and that is where they are supposed to be, it is only my responsibility to be true to myself, not to move others to new or different places.  there are still topics that get me emotional enough that i walk down that small-minded, thoughtless road of talking about others, i am being disciplined to catch myself, to make new habits to replace old ones.  any new habit i create will never include my being "average," so that leaves out talking about things.  i want to be brilliant, i want to shine, i want to inspire and to delight, got any good ideas?