TAKE A BREATH!

So, there are two sides to this coin...first, if I had a penny for every time someone said, "TAKE A BREATH, TAMMY!," I would be independently wealthy and well on my way to some tropical island. In case you've stumbled upon this wildly popular blog and have never had the incredible experience of talking to me, you don't know how fast OR how MUCH I talk! And when I say INCREDIBLE experience, I do mean INCREDIBLE...not INCREDIBLE like "deeply fabulous," but incredible like...WHOA. I have this excitement level that can only be satisfied by MASS AMOUNTS OF TALKING AT RIDICULOUS SPEEDS...and I DO tell myself "to slooooow down...and let the other person..." but darn it if my excitement doesn't get the best of me.

WHAT A CURSE.

Recently, a VERY dear person, whom I ADMIRE told me that "I never let him talk." He proceeded to tell me that I LECTURE and THEN ask him if he'd like to say a few words. WHAT?!! &*@$% no way! SO...WHAT DID I DO? duh...I QUICKLY began my LECTURE in DEFENSE of his ludacris statement!! ...oops...so maybe there was some validity to his statement. AND THAT WAS NOT GOOD.

SO, THIS IS MY MISSION...AND YOU SHOULD ALSO EMBRACE IT IF YOU'RE A FELLOW NON-PAUSER.

Pause...before you speak...

Pause...while you speak...

Pause...when you don't want to...

because, YOU my dear (and ME) are NOT the MYSTERY...the person you're talking TO is...let him or her SPEAK. You can't be engaging if all they hear is "blah, blah, blah..."

YES, YES...You ARE deeply fabulous...but let them tell you how fabulous they are first.

Signing Off,
Fellow Ex-Non-Pauser.