There is one habit that we all engage in, to varying degrees, and that is the habit of gossiping. We have even been advised not to say anything about a person if we cannot say something good about him/her.
We have also heard the humorous adage, “If you can’t say something nice about someone… come over here and sit down by me.”
We may have even heard another person say, when offering chewy bits of information about someone else, “I can’t tell you any more than I have already told you — I have already told you more than I heard myself.”
We can offer up many reasons why we “exchange information” about others. We may even feel justified in doing so. However, the bottom line is that gossiping is a hurtful activity.
Read on…
A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole community knew the story. The person it concerned was deeply hurt and offended. Later the woman responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely untrue.
She was very sorry and went to a wise old sage to find out what she could do to repair the damage. “Go to the marketplace,” he said, “and purchase a chicken, and have it killed. Then on your way home, pluck its feathers and drop them one by one along the road.”
Although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told. The next day the wise man said, “Now go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me.”
The woman followed the same road, but the wind had blown the feathers all away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
You see,” said the old sage, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back. So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a rumor, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”
Author Unknown
Affirmation for the Week:
Before I repeat a story about any other person, I will ask myself the following:
* Is it true?
* Is it harmless?
* Is it necessary?
“If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these questions, I won’t repeat it.”
Have a gossip free week!