T.H.I.N.K.

This acronym appeared on my town’s community Facebook page this morning. There’s been a little bit of bad-mouthing and haranguing going on recently, and a reminder of the groups intentions and standards was posted. As  I read the reminder, I was thinking about the THINK acronym, as I sensed it was pertinent.

Trying to recall the words, I was reading through the comments, and sure enough, someone else had already posted it. The woman posting is a middle school teacher, and she stated that it’s a guideline they use and emphasize with their students.

So much of what purports to be discourse these days has the feel of a middle schooler’s outburst. Rants, hurts, lies, misinformation. Often with the apparent intent of character assassination and misdirection of attention rather than dealing with actual issues and content. Such language is triggering and divisive, and its consequences can be seen as we become increasingly polarized as a society and struggle to connect.

The challenge posed to us all can be put into a few acronyms. THINK is a good place to start. Before saying something, consider, is it:

                          TRUE

                          HELPFUL

                           INSPIRING

                           NECESSARY

                           KIND

To me, this is a good place to start, and it dovetails with another: R.E.S.P.E.C.T.  I’ll take Arethra Franklin on another day.