The Rumor Mill: What You Need to Know About Gossiping

The rumor mill; it’s an ugly, often unfounded and utterly absurd concept. No one wants to be the subject of any unflattering commentary – and no one should ever have to be. How others live their lives is no one else’s business and it seems many forget this simple fact. I was recently reminded of how hurtful the rumor mill can be while speaking to a darling friend who is going through an awful life experience at the moment.

Upon making the decision to do what’s right for her, she found that the rumor mill took it upon itself to twist her words and her reasoning, painting her in an unflattering – and unfounded – light. This prompted me to point out a few things about the rumor mill we should ALL take a few minutes to remember.

People Believe What They WANT to Believe – Truthful or Not

This is unfortunate, but very true. It doesn’t matter how much you speak the truth. Once the rumor mill begins its work, most people will believe what they want. Unfortunately, that is very often the worst. Why people want to believe the worst in others is something that I can only assume stems from personal struggles they face in their own lives. Perhaps it gives them a feeling of satisfaction to believe that other people do bad things or make big mistakes – like it’s not already a known fact that no one is perfect.

I was once asked an outrageous and outlandish question from an acquaintance who knows very little about me. After listening to her accusations in a dumbfounded silence, I chose to answer to accusations by informing her that I’ll not even dignify such a ridiculous accusation with a response. She chose to turn my words around and tell many people we both know that I told her I wasn’t even going to deny it because it was true. This is upsetting, but it’s just a testimony to the fact that there are always those who will believe the worst because it somehow makes their own mistakes and their own insecurities seem justified.

Assisting the Rumor Mill is Never Acceptable

Discussing others in the type of manner you would never willingly do with them is always inappropriate. Am I guilty of gossip? Of course. For the most part, we all are. However, as we grow older, most of us – hopefully – begin to see that discussing others says far more about us than it says about others. If you are the kind of person who is constantly helping the rumor mill, perhaps you should practice thinking before you speak and considering what your words say about you.

You Have to Get Over It

There’s nothing you can do about the fact that some people just never learn, some will believe the worst no matter what and some thrive on spreading malicious gossip – true or not – about others for their own pleasure. You have to get over it. You’ll live a much happier existence if you realize that the rumor mill works overtime at all times and there’s nothing you can do about it except not contribute to the madness. Be a lady. Show some class and make sure that your actions always speak louder than your words.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Loading…

0