It's just emotion

 that's taken me over, or so sang the Bee Gees.

The Bee Gees

It's just emotion that takes over group conversations whenever a hot topic is being discussed.

That is why I would rather write about stuff than verbally present my thoughts to an audience. I don't like it when people respond to me by being loud, aggressive and highly emotional.

I have to watch myself or I will become loud and emotional, too. By writing my thoughts down, I am able to review them and revise them after I calm down.

Sometimes, when I am in a group, I prefer not to say anything at all, especially when I already know that I am outnumbered when comes to the majority opinion about a subject. 

The last time that I dared to speak up, others were using their eyes to throw daggers at me, and that happened during a meeting of United Methodists.

No, I had not expressed a nefarious belief. Instead, I mentioned the proverbial "elephant in the living room" that, in my opinion, was being danced around by the group.

Granted, I should have worded my initial statement in a different way. Yet, I suspect that the outcome would have been the same.

Now that I have become a UMC Certified (at present time) Lay Servant, I strive to be much more cautious with what I say and how I say it.

To me, keeping the peace is more important than quibbling about things that I cannot change.