Learning to Keep My Mouth Shut

Something I need to work on.

I am a naturally voluble person. I talk a lot, always have a story, some of which I tell repeatedly.

If you know me for long, you will know my life history, which I will volunteer without much prompting. Repeating the punchline of my story a few times for good measure is also something I do, not on purpose. I will join in on conversations I'm not really involved with, mostly at work.

Lately, I get the idea I've been irritating people. Granted, T.S. is in his stressful time of the year. If he was the only irritated person, I wouldn't care. But he's not. I have noticed signs from other people that I'm driving them stark raving mad. Okay, maybe my Drama Queen side just kicked in a little bit; more realistically - annoying them.

For the next week, I am going to try to not tell stories. Not interrupting or hijacking conversations, or going on and on about my personal life, which nobody really gives a rat's ass about anyway. No inane comments.

I am going to start listening.

I am going to not tell anyone at home about my work life (unless it's something huge, like "The boss resigned" or "I just got a huge raise". No more personal stories at work. If someone tells me a story, I will take it at face value. I will ask about other people, and not interject anything about myself. It's NOT all about me.
Telling stories is a way to keep the conversation going - but maybe not the best way.

So, going to work on it. Listen. Mouth Shut. Even if I have to think about Duct Tape to do it.