Shadow Lurking

In the interest of making life more interesting, I find lurking in the shadows can be very useful.  No I am not condoning stalking or taking unfair advantage of the fairer gender.  Just taking a step back from a situation to get a different perspective.  When you are deep in the middle of a conversation for instance your focus is on your next response not necessarily noticing how this conversation is affecting others around you like little Johnny who you just inadvertantly taught a new word his mother would rather he not repeat, constantly.  Or that lady who was having a pretty good day but because of your use of certain racially charged words just sent her right back into the doldrums.  As I have been reminded lately words can hurt.  Now, if you took a step back from the conversation you might understand why the person you are jousting verbally is offering such a reaction to what is being said.  Sometimes it is good to go back to your corner and regroup (to use a boxing metaphor) so you can have a productive conversation rather than a verbal version of Bull Run.  Take it all in, take a deep breath and try to meet the adversary half way, for all of our sakes.