Choosing to Be Thoughtful

What does it mean to be a thoughtful person?

Thoughtful- Full of thought; meditative; thinking.

Thoughtful- Heedful, careful, attentive, especially considerate of others, kind.  - Webster's Dictionary

"You are thoughtful if you are a thinker, but you are also thoughtful if you are considerate. To be considerate, you need, first of all, to pay attention to other people and care for them- in other words, you need to think about them and their well-being." (Forni, p. 150). 

My husband recently asked me at our family dinner table, why I loved him so much.  I was trying to find the right words, when my 10-year old daughter blurted out, "Because daddy is so thoughtful".  She had chosen just the right word, thoughtful.  My husband is a man who notices the details about other people.  He thinks about others, anticipates the needs of others, and acts to help others in need.  I considered myself to be a thoughtful person as well, however after reading this chapter, I can see that I have some skills that need to be fine-tuned.  For example, Forni goes into detail on how and why we should be taking more time to think before speaking and I need to work on this skill.  As Forni states, "The process of thinking before speaking often takes only a handful of seconds, making it one of your best investments of time.  We are talking about your ability to relate to your fellow humans."  I plan to spend more time thinking before speaking.