One helpful thing to keep in mind as a retort-stopper is that you won't "win," you won't change anyone's mind, you won't change any votes, you won't make the atmosphere in the room any better, YOU won't feel any better.

When you are stuck in a group of people who merely trade turns at talking about themselves instead of actually conversing, it could be a matter of their not really knowing how to converse as opposed to being too small-minded or excessively Facebooked.

Awkwardness is when there's a risk of a perception gap between what you mean and what you appear to mean.

If you're not sure what you want, then hold back from making plans or responding to invitations until you have a chance to think about it.

When you fail to see something, that doesn't mean I'm hiding it.

It's probably good for your body and brain to get moving occasionally.

The most reliable ways to make oneself miserable are attempting to change people and not attempting to change circumstances.