Shut up!

I'm a talker.  Always have been.

All of the stories of me as a child are about me talking too much and not knowing when to shut up.

My elementary school report cards are littered with As and Bs and comments of "She talks too much".  Every detention I ever got was for talking.  Wait, that's a lie, there was the one for cussing...but that is a LONG story.

I was voted Most Talkative of my senior class, a class of about 600 students.

My best friend in college bought me a coffee mug that said "If I'm not talking, check my pulse."

I have the gift of gab.

Sometimes it's good because it helps me meet people and fit into a new situation more easily.  People who don't like awkward silences tend to love me.

But sometimes I put my foot in my mouth because I talk without thinking or just don't know when to shut the heck up!  Sometimes my brain is saying "Shut up woman" but my mouth is still moving.

It also means that I can be an awful shoulder to cry on/sympathetic listener, because I am too quick to give advice, or my opinion.  Sometimes I just need to learn to shut up and listen...  And remember that other people can solve their own problems (even if it is not how I would do it), and that if they want my advice, they'll ask for it.

It's hard.

But I am trying.  I do have little conversations in my head trying to censor myself.  Bare with me people. The first step is admitting you have a problem.