That is our go-to response when we are too tired to think.

I am guilty of using it, too.

Too much, sometimes.

Knee-jerk responses are all too easy to dish out.

That gets on my nerves – particularly when I do it to excess.

To me, it means the chatter in my mind is looking for a way to come flying out of my mouth. When that happens, I see the cruel and evil thing that comes from that dark place. And it frightens me.

It frightens me to even consider how (or why) that dark side of my persona exists. It runs so counter to everything I believe in and who I am.

Or, at least, who I thought I was.

It causes me such pain and sadness. I expend so much energy keeping it under control, to keep it from consuming my soul. My own mind is consuming my spirit. And daily I contemplate what it would be like to be at peace with all things.

And what lengths I would go through to attain that goal.

I don’t know…