What you don’t know can hurt you
by Wendy Keller, a woman who has gossiped!
Let’s be honest here. I’ve said bad things about people behind their backs that I would never say to their face. And so have you. And we’ve all done it more than once.
“Gossip is when you hear something you like…about someone you don’t.” — Earl Wilson
Sunday mornings, I do a team sport. After the activity, a few of us stragglers were standing around talking. One of the weakest members of the team launched into a diatribe about another member, complaining to those listening that the other woman “just doesn’t get it.” Personally, today I’d observed that the one complaining had had an exceptionally off day.
I listened to her briefly, hoping it would end, but when it didn’t, I said, “You need to tell her what you saw her doing wrong so she can improve.”
She said, “It’s not my place.”
I said, “It’s as much your place as complaining about it is.” Wow! I can’t believe I said that!
The woman said she’d talk to our teammate about it, although it’s my bet that she will not. I couldn’t help but notice the thing that irritated her most about the other woman – being a weak team member – is also her own problem.
You surely have seen the saying: “The things we object to most in others agitate us because they are evident in ourselves.”
Gosh, that really sucks. And why did I get so upset about her gossiping about a woman I like? Yep, you guessed it. I’ve been on both sides of gossip. I live in LA, the Gossip Manufacturing Capitol of the World. Who really cares which of the celebs is sleeping with whom, divorcing whom or what they had for breakfast? Does this info improve anyone’s life? No!
This encounter made me conscious of a behavior I don’t like in myself.
I’m turning over a new leaf, effective at once. Care to join me?
Get yourself a copy of Wendy Keller’s FREE ebook
“The Top Ten Tips to Coping with Crisis” today!
