When women gather together...
With Covid-19 under a new level 5 as I write this, we women are not able to gather together for gossip or small talk. I do not say we are not alone in this, in fact I dare say men are just as bad when they meet their own equals.
By gossip, I mean the exchanging of little tit-bits of news about some person who is not present. It is remarkable how such news spreads, especially if it is not to the advantage of the person concerned and as it spreads, it grows and changes.
When it’s first told it may be nothing but the bare truth, but as it passes from mouth to mouth it acquires something of the ‘build up’, which each person who has heard it puts on, each person what they have been told and very soon, it ceases to bear much resemblance to the truth!
This being the case it is much better as we have nothing good to say about a person to say nothing at all. But how difficult this is in practice.
Perhaps someone we do not like is mentioned in discussion, our feelings get the better of us and we blurt out something which we had the good intentions of keeping to ourselves. If only we were strong willed enough to hold our tongues on these occasions, the world would be a much happier place for human nature being what it is, the chances are that our piece of information will be passed on and added to and it may even come to the ears of malicious gossip, who will not only speed its progress considerably, but will deliberately distort it out of all recognition.
I suppose we all have met the malicious gossip, the woman who spends the greatest part of her time finding out the business of her neighbour and then passing on anything which her imagination constructs with her own opinions. How much harm such a woman does it is impossible to guess, but of course the harm would be wound down to a great extent if others did not help her by repeating what she had told them and were careful not to supply her with any information which adds to her story of gossip!
One of the best new year’s resolutions we can make is to check unkind gossip whenever and wherever we meet it. If we must talk about people - and I suppose we must if we are interested in our associates - we can do so without dragging them down, with all their faults, into the light of day. Everyone has good points, so let us make these the subject of our gossip and if a piece of scandal does come our way, let us keep it to ourselves not repeating it to our most intimate friends for a secret – however, confidentially is a secret no longer.
If we are sure of our facts we should go straight to the proper authority, not to send the news to them by the round-about means of gossip.
Kind opinions do not spread too quickly as unkind ones for the person who makes gossip their work is bad minded and so, does not help to spread, but they will be passed on by those who gossip more harmlessly.
Therefore, if we have anything good to say about our neighbours let us be sure to say it!
Start some kind word on its travels. There is no telling the good it may be down the space of time. Let us keep this thought in our minds and resolve to start off as many kind words as possible in the coming new year.