Have you ever put your foot in your mouth?  And if so…. well……  you know what I mean.

But where did the phrase come from?  Some sources say it comes from the cattle disease… foot-and-mouth.  The name of the disease was then metaphorically applied to humans who’s verbal utterances got them in to big handy trouble.  Dag nab it.

Other sources say it comes as a result of a politician named Sir Richard Roche, in the late 1770s.  He was always saying the dumbest things… like Dan Quayle.  He got the nickname “The Mouth”.  The other popular phrase of the day was “Putting your foot in it”… meaning stepping in poop.  Hence the phrase somehow transcended from there.

It really makes no difference.

I bet you it comes from someone who bites their toenails in public.  Everyone is obviously embarrassed for this person, because they are sitting there, in the middle of public, biting on their gross toenails, with their foot is in their mouth.   That is what I think.

Nonetheless.  Today, I put my foot in my mouth.  I felt horrible about it.

This seems to happen to me frequently when I am in public.  You see… my mind is always spinning things in a hundred directions.  Honest to goodness.  You know…. when I am by myself … I can spout these things out without it really falling on anyone else’s ears.  But SHOOT!  When you put me around people… you know… in public…. I sometimes forget to strap my filter on my face.

And out it comes.

Part of my cloth is to make amends immediately.  So today… after I said my dumb donkey thing … I got up from the room…. and stalked the guy all the way to the john.  I didn’t follow him in… but I thought about it.  See what I MEAN?  At any rate, when he came out, I apologized, and I started crying.  Great.  Now I am an idiot with a foot in my mouth and snot running down my face.

He was completely understanding.  A complete gentleman with the utmost character.  And he was quite forgiving.  Although, I think he might have thought I was a little bit on the crazy-spindle when I followed him to the men’s room.

So what is my point?  I was reminded to use that Silence of the Lambs strap-on-mouth-gag …. a little more often …. when I am out in public.

On the serious side.   It reminded me to:
1. Be present in the moment.
2. Pause before I react.
3. Speak and act kindly, always.
4. And for Pete’s Sake… hit the REWIND Button …. OR the SHUT UP Button.

Life’s lessons.  WE can’t live without them.  And if we do… we haven’t learned a thing.

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Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.  –  Plato

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Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!  —  Lawrence G. Lovasik