There's Only One Way I Deal With Gossip

Unique Perspectives: There's Only One Way I Deal With Gossip

By Kim Stevens

Here’s a scenario: Someone comes up to me and says, “Oh my gosh did you hear about so and so doing THIS and THAT today???” 

(The details don’t really matter. But for this scenario, let’s just say it’s a piece of very juicy gossip.)

And do you know what I think about next? I think about the first agreement in Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements – Be Impeccable With Your Word. 

Anticlimactic? Maybe. But anyone who knows me knows that if you come to me with gossip, I will Shut. It. Down. 

Nipping gossip in the bud is my way of being impeccable with my word. People tend to not share any kind of gossip with me because they know I simply won’t take part. I don’t like how I feel after I gossip, and I certainly don’t want anyone to gossip about me. 

Being impeccable with my word is a two-way street in that way. It’s also a two-way street because I do my best not to talk badly about anyone, and I’m also conscious not to talk badly about myself. 

That’s a BIG one for me.

In the past, my default inner narrative was more self-deprecating than productive. I’d constantly be down on myself for things I thought I did wrong. I don’t do it much anymore but it still happens, and when it does, just like when someone gossips about me, I shut it down inside my own mind. 

How?

My practice is to go to God because my God is crazy about me. I look at myself as I believe God sees me, which allows me to picture myself in a kinder, brighter light. 

Have you ever been around someone who is down on themselves? They’re easy to spot because you’ll usually find them saying things like, “Ugh, I’m so stupid!” Or, “What was I thinking?” 

I really try to pay attention to how I talk to myself and others. Because when I’m impeccable with my word, every aspect of my life changes for the better – my relationships, my mindset and my ability to unequivocally believe in myself.