24 Hour Challenge

Name: Steven R.
Canoga Park, CA

I actually made it through the day without saying anything unkind about anyone.

The one possible exception was that I was contacted for a character reference for a person who wanted to volunteer in a children's ministry at a church. The gentleman in question had served previously in the children's ministry at the church where I am a pastor. Although the things I reported were not all positive in nature, none of them were ideas that I had not expressed to this gentleman directly in my interactions with him, and this gentleman and I remain on mutually respectful terms.

In some ways the challenge was not too difficult, in that I was doing computer work most of the day alone in my office, with little non-business interaction for most of the day. The one challenge I foresaw was that my wife and I are staying with my in-laws for a few weeks while our new house is being worked on, and she and I sometimes have disagreements that might lead to a temptation to say something unkind. Thankfully, we have had good interactions all day, helped by the fact that she and my father-in-law went to Bible study soon after I got home from work.

Taking this challenge made me more aware of not only what I was saying, but what I was thinking. There is a very kind gentleman at my office who sometimes makes comments that seem a little odd or misplaced. He did so today, and I briefly reflected on this interaction with a less than flattering thought. As I generally try to do, I acted with friendly ease, but was acutely aware of the effort it took to do so, and of the temptation to share my experience with others who have also noticed the quirky personality of this gentleman.

Thanks to Prager U, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Ellen SG
San Pedro, CA

As I begin to write this, I have 17 minutes left of my 24 hours of not saying anything unkind about anyone. I'm quite sure I'll make the full 24 hours. It's been an interesting experience. First of all, I thought that it would be far harder than it was. After all, I thought, I got through cancer three years ago, stopped swearing publicly many years ago and stopped drinking 23 years ago. Secondly, keeping my mouth shut and ears open allowed me to be an observer of others and myself. Thirdly, to test myself even more, I plan to give myself another 24 hour challenge when I go back to work on Monday. Back to today. I became irritated with unruly children at the dinner table, someone was doing this and someone else was doing that. Instead of whispering my comments to my husband, I thought through my thoughts. I asked myself a few questions: "Is it necessary to say this?" "Does it need to be me?" "Is it truthful?" "Is it unkind?" I paid close attention to what was being said between guests and admitted to myself that I often fill space with nonsense about others. I really didn't know how I sounded prior to taking this challenge. I have a fairly good idea now. I also admitted that when I'm speaking unkindly of others, I'm behaving arrogantly. If I'm talking about you, I don't need to look at me. Ouch. Lashon hara. I have work to do. Thank you for this challenge.

Name: Linda W
Poway, CA

It was possible for me to successfully refrain from saying anything unkind for 24 hours. The two primary reasons are that God has been teaching me to be kind to others and I have been practicing for several months. Listening to Dennis encourages me to not get upset with people who disagree with me, especially political. Some talk shows made me depressed and irritable. Then I tuned into Dennis' show and I was so pleasantly surprised that it was possible to disagree and not be disagreeable. Dennis is such a roll model. God bless him.

Name: Craig R
Burnsville, MN

I have seen it too many times, yes people have problems and flaws, but it is never wise to talk bad about them. In fact I am the man in my family that tries to encourage everyone that you look bad by talking bad about others.

Carol C
Bellflower, IL

It is not easy to be continually aware of your moment-by-moment thoughts; correcting them is even more challenging. However, it did get easier throughout the day in spite of distractions and normal activities of daily living.

This was a good experience to realize just how often we need to correct our thinking to present to ourselves and to others a more positive and encouraging demeanor. After all, our thoughts really do manifest in actions.

Tully R
West Orange, NJ

In life I have always thought would I say this to the person if they were standing right there. If not, then I probably shouldn't say it. I would have to say there needs to be an exception and that is your spouse. To my spouse I need to tell everything to otherwise I am holding back and that can be just as negative. In closing, I took the challenge and have not said any lashon harah in 24 hours.

Craig B
Greeley, CO

I found myself stopping my tongue when I was about to fail in my speech. I used the example of "does this person need to know this?". Thank you for the challenge Prager University. Sincerely,
Craig