I imposed a 24-hour no talking rule on myself, and this is what happened

Hey Readers! Fair warning: stuff’s about to get REAL. I’ve got some vulnerability to share, and I’ll start by owning that at least a strong part of me is an 8 on the enneagram (“the challenger”). As such, the emotion that often really powers me is anger. That can be a powerful force for change in the world. It can also get me into trouble at times.

I care a lot about matters of justice: social justice on the one hand (great!). On the other hand, making sure justice is served in my own personal affairs (selfish motives: not so great). As a child, “it’s not fair!” came out of my mouth with as much regularity as “Are we there yet?” intuits out of the mouth of a kid on a 20-hour car ride to Disney.

So when, as an adult, I experience the pain of this world (aka: the gap that exists between the way things ought to be and the way things actually are), and I can’t readily do something about it or fix it on the spot, I tend to run my mouth as an alternative. And this mouth can run. In moments of stress, it turns to four-letter words. Keep Reading