Have you ever had a conversation and immediately regretted everything you said, and wished you could go back and start the whole conversation over? That happened to me last weekend. I met a nice old couple, and we were introducing ourselves to each other, and I mentioned that I was a writer. They said that they were writers, as well, and asked me about my work.
Now, let me preface this next part with the fact that I don't get out much. I'm like a stay-at-home mom. I don't get to interact a lot with adults, so I get a little over-zealous when I actually get to have an intelligent conversation, especially when it's about writing because there aren't a lot of writers in the world.
So, back to my little encounter.
I was so excited about talking about what I do, I vomited all sorts of "me" info all over this nice old couple. Now, I'm by no measure an accomplished author. In other words, I don't have a lot to brag about. I wouldn't say I was trying to brag, but I was so excited to talk about what I've been trying to do, that I kind of just took over the whole conversation. At any rate, we had to do some stuff, and weren't able to talk again for a while after I just spewed my life story to this nice, long-suffering old couple.
When we got done with our meeting, I came to my senses, a bit, and asked them what they wrote. This nice old couple were George D. Durrant and Susan Easton Black. Mr. Durrant was a BYU college professor, and has published over 50 books. Mrs. Black was also a BYU college professor who has published over 20 books.
I missed a huge opportunity. Here were two well established, knowledgeable authors who could have told me all sorts of useful wisdom, and I talked about me... I can't tell you how dumb I feel.
First of all, I'm embarrassed that I've become a "Me Monster" as Brian Regan calls it.
And second, I missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn something from people who actually know.
So this week, for Thursday Truths Day, I have a humbled man's word of advice: Listen first, then speak, and then listen again.
