The Sound Of Silence Can Be Speak Volumes

Silence is supposed to be golden; however, it can be painful if you have something to say.? So often what we want to say does not need to be said.? And sometimes the more we talk, the less we are understood.

Recently, I was asking if I was going through a novel situation, and I asked on a business-focused social media website if anyone had experienced something similar.? The first person misunderstood what I posted.? And it followed by a bunch of others also did not grasp the question.

The final person to respond was a professional hired by the site to help answer questions.? The group up voted their response which had nothing to do with my question.? I was the sole down vote. ?

Considering that no one quite understood what I was experiencing, I deduced that it was a novel experience or the beginning of a trend that has yet to take hold.

As much as I wanted to respond to all these people who not only failed to understand, but up voted someone who was the farthest off the mark.

After the first person misunderstood my question, I issued a clarifying statement.? I addressed their misunderstanding with grace and gratitude.? I also addressed another commenter who was close, but no cigar.?

I felt that I could not explain myself any better than I did.? So, anything I wrote to follow up with the totally unrelated response from the professional would not have made a difference.

In the moment, I was very upset with the professional because they were supposed to have taken the time to really understand the question before answering.? However, since the site instituted professionals to contribute to the site, no of the professionals have been very helpful.? In fact, I find that they take away from the nature of the site.

I have since left the site because I feel that this new trend will greatly hinder the site and its effectiveness. ?And I would have grown more aggravated with their responses.

The best thing that I can do is walk away.? The best thing that I can do is be silent.? Fighting with people online hardly ever ends well.

The only way that we can change the time that we live in is to engage as best we can with those around us and then walk away or stay silent when we cannot get our point across.? Most conversations are not worth arguing with someone and rarely does it result in a meeting of the minds.

That does not mean that we stop trying to engage with culture and individuals to share our perspective.? It just means that we need to pick our battles.? We need to determine what is worth following up with an explanation and when to be silent as the conversation has become unproductive.

This sounds like common sense; however, you do not have to look far to see tensions boil over and people becoming antagonistic even amongst the most professional or solemn of settings.

A fool may see us retreat from the conversation and thought that they had “won”.? But if we establish ourselves and our reputations as someone who fosters a productive conversation, people will notice that we leave the conversation and let the discussion end without resolution because it cannot achieve resolution at this time and in this setting.