Unringing the bell.

We've all done it, right?

You open your mouth and out comes a word that you know you shouldn't use.  It's a word or phrase that is  mean and hurtful and you said it on purpose.  Yes you meant to hurt another person because you were angry, mad, furious!  Maybe angry with them, maybe upset about the situation ... but it doesn't matter the reason, your raw emotion took control of your thinking brain and you spewed the evil word(s).

You may have heard the expression "you can't un-ring a bell".  While this is certainly true, you should definitely try to un-ring it.  You should apologize, several times if necessary and hope that the other party is willing to move on from the ugly incident.  People can be more understanding than we sometimes give them credit for ... and yes, like the first line questions we have all done it, right!

Maybe the bell you rang is deafening and the bass was so deep that it stings for many, many days. If your offended party values your history/relationship they will eventually forgive you.  Keep in mind though, they may never forget!  If you are a student of the bible look up the phrase "forgive and forget"; or don't bother, because it's not in there!

Which brings me to the following and more important lesson:

               "Think Before You Ring!"

Sure we all have it in our hearts to forgive someone once.  But twice or three times by the same person?  If you can forgive the same person that many times you are either their mother or just a much better person than me.  And if you "ring" one too many bells you will soon have a reputation and you will start every new relationship on the defensive because the word will certainly get out.  This is the year 2016 and everyone is tweeting, posting to Instagram & Facebook and dozens of other sites.  Think before you ring!

Protect your reputation/character, guard your words/actions!  Next to your health your reputation/character is the most important thing you have going for you.  Think before you ring!