Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me..."
To be honest, though, the whole reason we said it was because we really were hurt. There are things that have been said to me that I will never forget, and they still sting like the day they were spoken. O.K. so we all agree that we should control our tongues and not slam people to their face. That's why it's so much easier to do it behind their backs, then deny it later--right? Check out this story:
In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"
"Hold on a minute, "Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test.'
"Triple Filter?"
"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you're about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually I just heard it and..."
"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. now let's try the second filter, the filter of goodness. is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
-Author Unknown
And just because you are a teenager or young, doesn't mean you have an excuse to gossip. It isn't just something ALL teenagers do. It's a conscious choice we all make, which means we could CHOOSE not to do it!
So....got gossip? Perhaps today you should start triple-filtering so you don't do double-damage with your words!
Questions to ask yourself:
How would your conversations be different if you 'triple filtered' everything?
I'm sure you have been the victim of gossip at some point in time, even if you aren't aware of it. Knowing how it feels to be gossiped about, why do you think people choose to do it anyway?
**Parts of this post were taken from www.dare2share.org. To see the original post, go to www.dare2share.org/devotions/devil-got-your-tongue/.
