When Gossip Rules The Day

The need for information is so great in our culture today - we will get it any way we can.  The problem is, we don't check sources or credibility anymore.  Leaking information and spin doctoring is  at an all time high and no wonder.  We are more exposed than we have ever been.  With the internet, social media and security cameras watching your every move, you can't do anything without someone knowing about it.   When I was a kid, don't ask when, we got information two times a day.  The daily newspaper and the daily news broadcast.  Even then, questions you needed answers to were days late.  For example:  The Air Force decided to test one of it's new supersonic jets.  The sonic boom was heard for miles.  Everyone was talking about it.  It shook the windows, the dishes and everything else for that matter.  But what was it?  No one knew.  Then three days later an article came out in the newspaper explaining it all.  Was there panic in the streets for those three days?  No.  Was there a congressional hearing convened to study the reason why there was a big boom?  No.  People just waited for their information.  Was there some speculating, yes.  It went something like this.  "There must have been a large explosion somewhere!"  That was it.

Patience always delivers truth.  But when we get impatient we will believe anything, even if its just for a little while.  Then when that information brings some sizzle to the conversation or attention to the person who is leaking it to the public - it can be a thrill.  That's makes it gossip.

I have a saying that I like to use from time to time when someone brings me "news" about something or someone.  "Wait for it."  When I think that someone is getting caught up in gossip - wait.  The truth will expose itself shortly and the messenger is usually red faced after the fact.  Don't be red faced with them.  Guilt by association, you know.

Gossipers like to associate themselves with impatient people.  It's like pulling the pin on a grenade and watching it blow up.  It's fun and wrong.  Patience is a learned/taught character trait.  Gossipers are not patient and they like to associate with people like themselves.

#1 - Wait - Resist the urge to act upon something you cannot confirm or prove.  Even if the person telling you the information is urging you to take action - don't.   FYI - when you do that to a gossiper, they will quit gossiping to you.

#2 - Watch - The truth will reveal itself, if necessary.  (Let's be honest, most gossip isn't worth paying attention to at all.)  But you have to practice some simple mathematics here.  Remember you have one mouth, two ears and two eyes.  Use them proportionally.

#3 - Wisdom - Allow wisdom to be your guide, not just the facts.  First of all I guarantee that you don't have all the facts.  Period.  So think it through and don't jump ahead of yourself (impatience).