Practicing Restraint

Wix images: Joyful Senior Woman

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I am practicing restraint…keeping quiet. Not volunteering soothing opinions, palatable or compatible with the ideology of the person asking. Not interfering. Just learning to let people think through the consequences of their intended actions.

I am practicing waiting for the person/persons to thoroughly think through the impact of their upcoming actions. Thus avoiding cycles of recriminations or “why didn’t you stop me from doing something that proved detrimental or costly or just ridiculous.” It’s part of my personal growth to let people face the consequences.

Restraint permits both parties to analyze what’s at stake along a continuum of outcomes…maybe trivial all the way to life-changing. I am practicing doing more reflections that lead to joy and hope. The news channels, talk television, and radio bombard me with negativity…so each day, I take a mental health break. Put on some soothing music or music from different eras…go for a walk around the park…or watch little children laugh and play.

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Joyce A. Brown is a motivational speaker and author who uses her creative energy to give voice and meaning to the challenges women face in all walks of life. She grew up in Rockford, Illinois, in a household of strong women, but her professional career expanded her reach into Peoria and Battle Creek, Michigan. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and has served as a direct services worker, executive director, program director for a major foundation, and entrepreneur. Joyce has experienced many uplifting moments as a professional and as a dedicated parent and strives to bring those events and lessons to life through her characters in the contemporary fiction novels she pens. Visit her Author’s Page