Speech and Language

I sat with my Dad at the table the other day and he shared his wisdom with me as he so generously does. He told me there have been times when he said something and he wanted to melt like water into the ground because he regretted it. We all know that feeling. He told me I need to chew on my words before I say them out loud because just like you chew on food, you're going to have to eat those words.
I don't know about you, but that message for me initially makes me want to melt in the ground like water because almost every day I say words I regret. There are times I become discouraged and want to stay silent because of this human behavior. I read a quote the other day that said something like... the way you learn is to engage. If you stay silent, you are no longer engaging. On the other hand, there is a time and season for everything. Sometimes it's best to speak and other times it's best to say nothing at all.
He told me there are three ways to say "sit down" in Farsi. The first one is saying something like, come on over here and have a seat (like if you have company over and you have to be very polite). Another way is like saying, sit right here and eat or do your homework. That version is fairly neutral and it doesn't really evoke emotion. The third version he told me about is like saying, "sit your ass down".
His point, I think, was to convey the message that there are different methods of communication used between people.
The way the messages are interpreted is up to the individual person. Each mind (& heart) perceive and receive various messages according to what they know, or what they are familiar with. It can even simply come down to what perspective they are choosing to have.
Let us give and receive with grace in words and deeds because we are human and we all make mistakes. Just like the fragrance of a rose stays on the hand of the one who gives it, forgiveness comes to those who forgive. "Let your work be your prayer."Sometimes it's so hard for me to write because I have to use words and communicate messages that can so widely be interpreted or misinterpreted. The idea that my words can hurt others makes me feel sick, but the idea they can help others brings me comfort.
I opened my trunk the other day and found this big card I got from one of the classes I taught and it said, "hang on to your dreams". It made me smile because I was feeling like a huge failure. Such is the life of a writer, musician, or anyone who self expresses for that matter. So what do we do? I suppose we just need to keep playing each string of our unique heart we've been given by the master orchestrator... until it stops beating.