The Tongue Karate Kid

This is a difficult entry for me. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it...

Sometime around her eighth grade year, my sister decided to take Karate lessons.
So...each week, we'd take her to Champaign and she'd learn Karate. She got stronger physically.
I have to admit, I was a little scared of her. But...I had my own weapon to use...so I felt the scales were even...

One day, my friend Lori and I were sitting in my living room and my sis came in. And I made some smart remark to her about something...the actual remark is lost to me now...but the docs said that might happen after a severe head injury...

Let's pause for a moment...I should clarify:

For the record, I made smart remarks to my sis all the time. This was nothing new for us. And I was REALLY good at smart remarks. The best one, I believe, was this:
"I may be fat, but you're ugly....and I can always lose weight!"

Yeah...I know.

But I digress...back to this particular memory o' mine.

So...I made some smart remark...and my sis didn't say a word to me. She did, however, come over and hit me REALLY hard on the head with her fist. Her Karate fist o' doom, is what I think they refer to it as....all's I know is that IT HURT!!!

Now...you know in those cartoons...when someone gets hit in the head and they see stars or twittering birds or something...that's absolutely TRUE! It happens...trust me....I know.

I couldn't remember my name for about half an hour afterwards. She hit me HARD! That Karate practice of hers was paying off!

And in front of my friend, too! Not only did she hurt my head, she wounded my pride! Imagine, having your younger sister make you look bad in front of your homies!

(okay, we didn't call each other 'homie' then...but you know what I mean!)

I learned something valuable that day. I realized how strong my words were...based on how strong my sister's fist was.

All those years, you see, I'd been taking my own 'tongue Karate class', if you will. Honing my smart mouth skills by sharpening my sarcasm and strengthening my insults.
Folks...it's not cool. And once you've learned Karate...it's hard to forget. My sister still remembers moves she's learned.

Does she use them? Um...I don't know for sure...but I'm guessing that there aren't too many opportunities that come her way.

My tongue Karate though...is something I have to think about EVERY DAY! There are times I feel like I should shout out a warning to people: HEY! I KNOW TONGUE KARATE! AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT! THIS MOUTH IS REGISTERED AS A LETHAL WEAPON!"

So I'm trying to say more kind words...more positive words. That's part of the reason for this blog in the first place. I'm trying to change my 'smart mouth' into a 'smarter mouth'...so to speak...and build people up...rather than tear them down.

I encourage you to do the same. Say something kind to someone today, will you?

My advice? Stay far away from weight and looks....they can get you into trouble!!!