Bad Moods and Bad Words

Don't mix bad words with a bad mood.  

You will have many opportunities to change your mood, 

but you will never get the opportunity 

to change the words you spoke. 

In my own life, I wish I would have found this one thought sooner.  I have learned that you can regret so easily the words you speak in anger, but you will never regret the words you don't speak when you are angry.  I don't like to speak in anger.  The tone of my voice is not kind, the way I say the words is not kind, the words I speak escalate my feelings into even more anger. For me it is better to be silent.  It is better to wait and speak when the anger is gone.  It is better to think first and speak later.  
Many years ago, I used to be a "yeller", the only way that I thought I could get the attention of my children was to yell at them.  Granted, I had never in my life been taught differently, but there is not a day that goes by that I don't wish those words were unsaid.  I never called them names, but I did not speak to them as I would speak to my Heavenly Father.  They were His children long before they were mine.  I wish I could have gained just a little wisdom earlier in my life.
Today, I don't yell very often.  Mostly I ask, sometimes I tell, sometimes I give a choice.  But I have learned to watch my words and the way that I say them.  I am a better mother now that I don't yell.  I am a better wife.  I have changed my mood, but I really wish I could go back and change all the words.