Morning Intention

Last night Narayan suggested another way to practice "wise speech". In the morning, reflect on how you want to use speech during the day. Set your intention. In the evening, check in to see how you did. I tried it today. On numerous occasions I had the urge to speak as I usually do -- to make some quick wisecrack, to gossip, to say something to make others laugh. It was quite surprising, the number of opportunities I had to make a different choice about how I responded to a situation.

For example, I walked into the kitchen at work and there was an informal meeting of the 3 new managers. They were talking about the former managers and how they want things to be different now. It was tempting to say something critical of the former group, to ingratiate myself with the new guard. But I kept silent. So far so good. Narayan would say to take it a step further, to speak positively about the former managers (if it was true). I have so much to learn.