The Tongue (Part 2)

            Gossip.  I try to avoid gossip and those who gossip.   I try not to gossip about others because I usually have better things to do than waste my time talking about someone else.     It has been said that gossip is the lowest form of intellectual conversation.   I am a creative person, a deep thinker and gossip is not part of that kind of reasoning.

            Even with all of that said, I have found myself surrounded by gossip at work.   I am not going to sugar coat things~ My boss is very demanding and difficult to work with.   People are typically saying very negative things about her and it becomes difficult not to feed off of that negativity. 

            I am a “glass half full” kind of gal, and even I have to use real effort to find something about my boss that is positive.   This is especially difficult after a bad evaluation where she tears me apart.

            I have realized that there is SO MUCH gossip around me.  Who is leaving, who is staying.  Who wants to leave but can’t.   Who is too lazy to interview somewhere else.  Who got good evaluations; who got bad ones.   Who to avoid because they are one of the few people who like our boss and will report back to her everything that is said. 

            Avoiding gossip in an environment that rich in it can pose to be a challenge.  I am learning to bite my tongue, hold my breath and become a listening ear when I am told about the latest nugget of “juicy” information.  It is difficult not to voice an opinion about a situation when emotions and tempers get involved.    It is difficult to stay quiet I see how hurt my friends are by things my boss said.

Have you ever heard the expression “Add fuel to the fire?”    Often that phrase is used when someone needs to control the tongue or his or her temper.  It basically means one person starts something and the other person makes it worse by saying or doing something to make the first person angry.

Slander and gossip work the same way.   One person says something bad about someone and the next person “adds fuel to the fire” by saying something equally awful.    In the book of James there is a verse that is very similar to our familiar expression:  “ Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark”(James 3:5).    When a negative thing is spoken, often another person will add “fuel to the fire” and the whole mess will explode into a huge fireball of hatred.

            I have to remember that a gossip will gladly repeat what you say to the next available listening ear.  Proverbs states:  “A gossip betrays confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret”. (Proverbs 11:13).   How can I be sure that anything I say will be kept in confidence?  The only way to avoid being the object of gossip is to be very careful about what you say.   Avoid gossip and stay away from those who spread gossip.

           

~Sunny :D