Listen with Kindness, Please?

Oh, the comfort
—the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person —
having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words,
but pouring them all right out,just as they are,
chaff and grain together;
certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them,
keep what is worth keeping,
and then with the breath of kindness
blow the rest away.
~Dinah Craik

Here on my blog I try to keep my words to a minimum.

Somehow in real life I have a much harder time.

Is all my conversation filled with grace

and wisdom and love,

or am I just a clanging cymbal,

harsh and grating to all who hear?

Tears sting in my eyes, and I am sick with remorse...

was my heart heard?