I've never liked red brick, can I be pinkish-grey instead?

Ever have one of those annoying personalities in your life, that once you get them started it's impossible to shut them up again? Let me tell you something profound, you are a brick wall, and a debilitating, frustrating one at that. Don't stop reading. I'm writing this from one brick wall to another. Yes, I am a brick wall. And my brick wall attitude has hurt the “once s/he starts, s/he doesn't stop” personalities in my life.

I have stopped creative flow, emotional outpouring, excited stories, and other heart felt communications, simply because I didn't want to let someone get started, because I didn't have the time or energy to hear them through. Selfish, isn't it? When it hit me that I was doing this to people around me, well, honestly, this hit me when I was laying in bed trying to go to sleep, and the talker that I affect the most was apologizing for being wide awake and just “blah, blah, blah” (while making a talking motion with his hand). I dutifully got up to write this post, because for one, it was profound to me, and two, I won't remember everything I wanted to say tomorrow morning. Definitely a moment when I wished I kept my technology closer at hand, and brought the laptop to my bedroom at night – because my talker is trying very hard to not talk while I write, and it's going to drive him crazy.

Let me encourage you, my brick wall friend, because brick walls can be taken down. Now, this is hard work. No matter how you go about it – you can get out the sledge hammer and knock it down, or you can use a chisel and carve out the mortar until the bricks come free. Either way is going to be hard work, and it will take dedication. Pray my dear friends, and let God help you deconstruct your brick wall-attitude, because the people in your life that are hard to get stopped once they've started need you, and they need your support. They need to share their hopes and dreams, they need to share their hurts, they need to share their life, and God put them in your life for a reason. Slow down, and let them share, you will be blessed in ways you never saw coming, and you will grow to look more like Christ as you learn to honor God with each of your actions and each of your encounters.