I suppose all of us at some point or other have been party to gossip in some form or other whether on the receiving end or the disseminating end.
Do not repeat anything you will not sign your name to. ~Author Unknown
I wiki’d the word ‘gossip’: Idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others. It forms one of the oldest and most common means of sharing (unproven) facts and views. The term also carries implications that the news so transmitted (usually) has a personal or trivial nature, as opposed to normal conversation.
In the past few days I have been in a position where information about other people has been shared with me and even though the ‘buck’ has stopped at my ears, I have been amused at the “he said she said” drama that followed. I have learned that if the receiver of ‘gossip’ does not encourage the behavior it quickly stops.
I also observed that gossip is like an aimless bouncing ball that keeps perpetuating until it hits a crack and disappears. When people come to me with what appears to be negative gossip I choose to be that crack. There are some people that just like to dig and find out how much you know, in those situations I usually point out something positive about the person being gossiped or just do a total 360 and move off topic.
I chose to fill my day with enabling activities and thoughts, engaging in “idle talk about others” is not an option on how I chose to use the precious time I’ve been given on this planet especially if I know I could engage in conversation that lifts the spirit.
Daisy Says: Enable with your words and filter with your ears.
