Big Mouth

I spend most of my time acting like I'm the smartest person in the room.

It isn't hard.

Most of the people I hang around with don't provide a whole lot of competition when it comes to high levels of intelligence.

The truth is that I'm not all that smart.
I just have a lot of opinions and a really big mouth.

There are times when I wish I knew the true value of knowing when to just shut up.
Knowing that I have the knack for saying too much too often, I decided that I should make it one of the things that I work on during the course of the whole re-invention of Heather.

Insert subliminal mother dialogue:
"Just because you're thinking it Heather doesn't mean you should say it out loud."

Yes mom, I know. Lips closed. Tongue bitten. Point taken.

I try not to come off as one of those busy-body-know-it-all types. I don't always offer my opinion. Sometimes I do wait for people to ask for it before I go off on a long winded diatribe about my own life experience or my own theories or my own personal views.
Sometimes.
Not very often.

What I have come to realize, however, is that my own life experience isn't necessarily going to help someone else. What I've come to understand is that my own theories are only relevant to me because I have gone about the tedious process of testing them to see if they hold water or sink like a stone. What I've come to appreciate is that my own personal views are not the same as those of other people, nor would I want them to be.

Essentially, what I've learned is that it's generally a good idea for me to just keep my mouth shut.

Sometimes knowing what you should do - and actually being able to do it - are two totally different things.

For instance:
I know that smoking is bad for me, yet I still smoke more than a pack of cigarettes a day.
I know that I should get more exercise, yet I still insist on sitting at my computer.
I know that I should eat healthy, yet it's impossible to resist peanut M&M's, I don't care who you are.

Knowing that I should learn when to keep my mouth shut doesn't mean that I'll actually do it.

It just gives me something else to work on.