Watch Your Step

Yesterday while I was out walking I said hello to an older lady who was walking her dog, and the thing is I almost turned my ankle along with falling over because I was not paying enough attention. During the summer with good whether I can walk without thinking about what may happen; however, when the fall and winter come especially it is important to watch my footsteps. I would say a warning for us all especially those are getting older.

The thing to about watching my step is that where I was at if I had fallen down, and hurt myself badly there was really no one else around except the older lady. Of course, I have my cell phone thankfully so I could make a 911 if hurt badly enough. I would have to remember to do so as well. Sometimes in situations you don’t always think about your cell phone but it certainly help having one. In fact, it is the main reason I have one because I don’t use mine that often but it is always good to have in emergencies like falling down or your car breaks down.

Quite a few years ago I sprained my ankle a couple times playing tennis so the ankle is sensitive when I make a wrong turn with it. One of the times playing tennis my ankle sprain was so bad that I was on crutches for three weeks. I so wanted to continue playing tennis because of competitive nature but I knew I had to stop playing for those three weeks. When the three weeks were over I was back on the courts with more determination than ever. Amazing what happens when you can’t do something you really enjoy.

In another manner what we can call watching our step has to do with what we say or in my case what I write.  So often people say things they should not even if it is how they truly feel. This is really true these days with social media. I know that I can write on some issues that I feel strong about but I don’t because I don’t want to offend other people. Though I have the freedom of speech in the good old USA I and of course all of us can get into some trouble by our words. We have known celebrities who have lost jobs or endorsements because they said what they felt without thinking about the consequences. Even us ordinary people could lose or not get a job because of what we may say or post.

Right now going on, and we will probably get real tired of it all is the Republican debates. I am sure the Democratic debates are right around the corner, and then finally debates between the Republican and Democratic finals for the Presidential election. I know it so easy to criticize some of the candidate or maybe even all of them; however, I find that I won’t because the truth they are not worth it. I wonder if I have to watch my step just by saying it.  Like the well-known saying, “if you don’t have any good thing to say don’t say anything at all.” Actually it sounds like a good policy to keep.

My idea is to encourage others so if I am criticizing people than I am not do a very good job in encouraging others. So let’s watch our step. I enjoy telling jokes, and I make sure they are clean ones but I need to be sure that I am not offending any one either. It is a thin line when you are talking to an individual or a group about someone. It is always good to speak positive about another person. I know that if someone was talking about me they would with a positive light on it. I have had several instances where I was talking about someone, and just right after I finished they walked into the room. I was so glad that I was saying something good about them; I would have felt really bad if I was not.

So my encouragement to all is to watch our step so we won’t fall over, and hurt ourselves. Think about it especially when talking about others.