The No-Chatter Zone

Written By Mrs. Shaffer

Girls…and chatter. They do seem to go together quite well, and in our present day, there are so many ways to communicate! Can this older, more mature woman give you a bit of sound advice?

Be careful how much you “chatter” and where you do it.

In the old days, girls used to get together and talk while swinging on the porch swing or sprawled out on the bed in their bedroom. “Chatter” and communication used to take place face to face rather than electronically, as it does today. When you seldom spend time communicating face to face with the people in your life, your communication can easily become fake or phony. Because no one is there to watch you say what you are trying to say, there is no accountability and you can lead others to think you are something…that you really are not! Take a good look at facebook to see what I mean. People, young and old, spend a great deal of time presenting themselves to the rest of the world, in ways that seem to say, “Hey, pay attention to me! I’m important!”

Girls, young and old, just need to unplug themselves from “the chatter zone”. Learn to limit your time in idle chatter. Use discipline in things such as texting, twittering, facebooking, forums and blogs that flaunt self and the like. Set up a safety zone where you have no access to electronic chatter. If you don’t set up perimeters for yourself, you will quickly become addicted to “electronic chatter”.

Un-plug yourself every week for a time and stick to it.

Never, never, allow yourself to text or instant message others at work or during mealtimes! It is actually quite rude! Instead, spend more time in communication with others face to face.

Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

Talk to “your friends” face to face and allow them to sharpen you. Watch out for that “chatter zone”!