Can She Do It?

Hello. How are you?

I'm fine. At least, I feel pretty great and accomplished at the close of this Sabbath Day. Why?
I decided to challenge myself to a full week of being nice. No mean words - nothing of the sort from my little, often malicious, mouth. This means no angry intonations. No yelling. No criticisms. No nagging. Just kind and loving words, served up with a much more calm and collected voice. I'm just sick of being surly. I want to be nicer - replace curt words with sweeter ones.

I kept my voice even, friendly, and low all day. I kind of cheated by greeting the kids in a nice way before they even said anything. I noticed that I think it makes a big difference so far. When things got on my nerves, I took a deep breath and shrugged them off.

Do you think I can make it a whole week? Even when my buttons are destined to be pushed who knows how many times each waking hour? I don't take criticism or handle confrontation very well. I get defensive and frustrated. I sometimes offer a sarcastic "sorry!" which might then escalate into a futile argument. =/ I don't enjoy it when someone says something to imply I'm not doing my job properly. Sometimes they haven't actually said anything, but I still assume they're thinking ill of me because of previous things they've said. (If that even makes sense.)

Anyway, I have this habit of letting myself get mad when it really isn't necessary. What am I trying to prove? That I have no self control? That's kind of silly. I also tend to get riled up when I hear people complaining about stuff (which is hard to point out without becoming a hypocrite - complaining about the complainer.)
So I'm going to work really hard on this all week, keep myself acutely conscious of every word that passes my lips, and see what happens.
Maybe next week I'll work on nice thoughts. ;)

I actually fasted today for help with this goal. After church as I was fixin' dinner, I put on a CD Cora had been given in Young Women's. I'd halfheartedly listened to it a couple of times before, but this time I actually heard the lyrics of a particular song. It was perfect. I felt it was just for me. It's called "By the Way I Speak" (by Jenny Phillips)

My words hold the power 
To lift up and to save
Or to put down and degrade
I am shaped by the things I say

May the words I speak
Be filled with kindness
May my manner of speech
Be cheerful and clean
May my voice be a light
That lifts people higher
May I bring hope and love and trust
May I bring peace
By the way I speak

I always have the choice
To be gentle and to praise
Or to find fault and complain
I show my heart by the things I say

I hope I can make a difference in my home this week. If (I mean WHEN) I succeed in this and nobody notices any change in me, maybe I wasn't such a meanie in the first place. We shall see.

What are you working on this week?