Last week I was sharing the good news of a prominent promotion of a friend when the person I was sharing it with shook their head at the thought of it.I defended my friend’s qualifications (as if they needed to be defended because my friend was already hired). Sadly, later that same day, I found myself shaking my own head and being catty about another’s job change. I’ll be honest, I sent a few texts. Another friend shared how her teenage daughter had been excluded from sleep overs with the others on her sports team and when my friend confronted the other Mom, the Mom replied “It wasn’t something she would have liked.” On Friday, a few bloggers that I follow posted posts in regards to negative comments and forums which exists to simply bash their blogs. Each of these instances got me to thinking. Why do any of us find the need to be catty or mean? Are we jealous? Do we think that others don’t deserve good things in their life? Do we partake in negative gossip as a way of bonding with others? Why do we purposefully exclude? (The mean girl syndrome)For my true friends, I celebrate their success and I believe that they celebrate my own. I do not openly root for negative or bad things to happen to others. I’ve been on the receiving end of hurtful comments and I honestly try to not fall into that game – you were mean to me so I will be mean to you. There are a lot of things going on in this world and each of us carries around our own story, our own issues and our own struggles. Just because one’s life doesn’t look difficult doesn’t mean they aren’t struggling like crazy to make it appear smooth and perfect.
This week I challenge you to watch what you are saying about others.
When you make that negative comment, where does it come from? A place of jealousy? A place of simply being hurtful and wanting to tear down?
We need to celebrate each other and the success that we are able to achieve. By doing this, we lift each other up higher and achieve more. By tearing each other down, none of us succeed.
]]>
Wonderfully said. It can be very easy to get caught up in gossip even when you don’t mean to. Everyone deserves to be happy and have good things come to them.
After I wrote this post, I began to catch my thoughts about others – they weren’t verbal comments but they were thoughts. We simply need to put our energy into ourselves and making us the best us we can be!
I have a tendency to be pretty catty at times – I know it’s something I need to work on! I’ve been feeling down lately, so I’ve been more so. I guess it’s good that the only person that’s heard my comments is my husband!