Elephant Talk

Did you know elephants are great walkers? According to author Robert Moor in his best seller "On Trails," they can walk as many as 50 miles per day. Very impressive. In fact, one of the reason elephants in captivity tend to rock back and forth is because of their need to walk. The rocking gives them relief though it can lead to serious infections. The point is all that unreleased energy, if not used wisely, can lead to problems. How many us have lots to say - or think we do - yet find ourselves with a proper outlet to express ourselves? Nevertheless, we burst out with words any way and end up making things worse for ourselves.

I tend to do that during pauses in conversations. The empty space is not always easy to handle. And then there are interactions in which I want to give an opinion though I may not have any facts on which to base them. I call this "elephant talk." There is the need to talk yet little per-thought in which to ensure my desired communication is reasonable. I, for one, need to do a better job of communicating more thoughtfully. If successful, does this mean I or any one with a similar goal will be free of sharing unsubstantiated opinions or saying dumb things? It sure does. Having said that, I realize that is never going to happen becausee it is totally unrealistic.

Nevertheless, much like many unrealistic goals, it is well worth going after. Who would not want a world with more thoughtful conversations? Elephants are great creatures that deserve the right to walk as they were intended. Humans, despite the many cracks in our armor, deserve to be able to communicate in at least to close to a reasonable manner as possible. Doing so requires effort, maturity, and discipline. Think before you speak is a timeworn expression, yet it applies here. We all communicate. It if we do so in a thoughtful manner, then that makes all interactions better. Right? It makes for trying to create a better world.