Welcome to the Buddhist boot camp podcast.

Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life.

Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

One of my favorite pastimes is trying to solve crossword puzzles, not the difficult ones,

I assure you. The other day, one of the clues was unruffled, for which the correct

answer was serene. People everywhere are currently ruffled by world events, either stressed

or anxious, sometimes angry, fearful, worried, overwhelmed, or all of the above.

The antidote, of course, is serenity, but there's nothing more patronizing

than telling someone who is freaked out to calm down. That's because when someone is drowning,

that is not the time to teach them to swim. One of the steps in the Buddhist eightfold path

is mindful speech, and the Buddha advised us to consider five things when it comes to mindful speech.

It needs to be honest, it needs to be helpful, it needs to be spoken with kindness, the intention needs to be to foster positive connections,

and just as importantly, mindful speech needs to be timely.

Sometimes something needs to be said and it may even need to be said by you, but not necessarily

in the exact moment you want to say it.

We need to know our audience and we need to read the room.

Saying the right thing at the wrong time can actually do more harm than good. That's why

nonviolent communication calls unsolicited advice a form of bullying. So to practice mindful speech,

I personally used the wait acronym, W-A-I-T, which stands for, why am I talking?

It serves as a reminder to pause before speaking.

Wait can also stand for why am I texting, why am I troubled, or why am I triggered.

I've learned the hard way that even the most true and kind words can create conflict

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