By Alison
Do you find it hard to keep your opinions to yourself sometimes? While you shouldn't be afraid to speak up for yourself, there are times when it's best to keep your lips firmly closed. Perhaps you would offend people, or say something you shouldn't. Or you have a habit of saying the wrong thing. These are some of the times when you should keep quiet and not say anything …
It's so hard to keep your feelings to yourself if you don't like someone your friend or sibling is dating. But just because you don't like them doesn't mean that they're a bad person or wrong for your friend. You may want the best for her, but you don't decide who they date. They have every right to choose for themselves.
Oh, this is such a tricky one. If you find out your friend's boyfriend is cheating on her, should you tell? If you don't, and she finds out you knew, she'll be angry. But if you tell her, she won't thank you. Generally, though, it's better to stay out of it and keep quiet - she'll find out he's a louse soon enough.
You just want to tell everyone a juicy piece of gossip you've just found out. OMG everyone, you'll never believe what I heard! But wait a minute - what about the people who'll be hurt by this? It's not your place to spill secrets, so zip those lips and respect that the subject of your gossip might prefer that things were kept quiet. They'll reveal it in their own time - if they want to.
If you're tempted to bawl someone out at work or in front of others, wait until you're in a more private place. Don't embarrass them by yelling at them where there's other people around. Difficult conversations don't need an audience. Handle the situation more graciously by having the conversation in private.
It's lovely revealing the happy news of a baby on the way, isn't it? Unless you're the one who's pregnant, keep quiet. You shouldn't reveal somebody else's pregnancy or your suspicions that they might be pregnant, as you'll spoil their happy moment.
How often do you get into a futile argument with someone on the internet? Don't bother. It never leads anywhere, other than making you frustrated and angry. You're not going to convince anyone that you're right, so when you're tempted to start arguing with someone, stop yourself and stay silent instead.
It never fails to amaze me at how much personal information people are prepared to discuss on their cell phone. Never forget that people are listening if you're in public. Unlike the girl behind me on the bus who was talking loudly about her periods! Be very cautious about what you say when talking on your cell in public; either people don't want to listen, or you don't want them to know personal things about you.
It's hard to keep things to yourself sometimes, but if in doubt, keep quiet. You can always speak later but you can't unsay something that's been said. Have you ever put your foot in it and said something you shouldn't have done?
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