Mindful speech principles

[mac_stone]

I have a number of friends who work very hard to adhere to these guidelines, when choosing whether or not to say something:

Is it true?
Is it kind?
Is it necessary?

I've been giving this a good deal of thought, of late. It honestly seems to me a pretty good rule of thumb for moving through the world.
I certainly have a temper, I know. So like most humans, I struggle from moment-to-moment with what to say, what to let go, and when to walk away.

ETA Meanwhile, I spent the day doing hoof-trims on a bunch of horses, and I'm staggering tired. So if I'm slow to respond in the comments, please know it's probably just because I fell asleep in my chair. For the record - this is NOT a conversation about race. Attempts to tie this conversation to the GCADofDoom2009 will be summarily deleted.

Comments

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

Another one is, "do I have to be the person to say this?" I've go a reputation at work for being the person who will ask the hard questions -- or the ones that end up looking like targets tacked on my back. So people just wait for me to do so. People appreciate it, and thank me. But I've got to the point where I wait to see if anyone else will go there. And I don't need to reiterate, do I?