Gossip: one of the most committed 7 sins
When I was young, I failed to understand the reason behind the uprising of disputes in the family or amongst my friends. I couldn’t help but wonder why people can’t let go off trivial situations and hold a smile on their face putting an end to the inconsequential quarrel which only makes them vengeful with gluttony. As I grew older, all that the inhabitants of the world had to offer to me was the frivolous child of “gossip.” I could finally infer that the most lucid and enigmatic reason that I used to keep pondering about when I was young was nothing but the anticipation that rose in people because of Gossip!
God has created humans in such a way that He does not permit the mind of an infant to take the encumbrance of facets of human nature such as gossip. However as one strolls past the different phases of life one is made to apprehend the facades of the real world. It all begins when we enter into the tender age of adolescence. We are so overwhelmed by our evolution that we mostly begin to overlook what is of utmost importance- our growing personality. It is this stage of life that we begin to take a hold of what we believe in, begin to make decisions of our own, come to an incurrence of what we feel is right and it is this very stage of life when our parents begin to step back and start letting us be on our own. Parents however should never stop looking out for their progenies because in the advent of being a pre-adult many teens often lose out on making the correct decisions.
Now that I have started going to college I see a new world all together. A world I had never imagined. A world with natives of different dispositions some of which I have seen before and some which I presumed to be non-existent until lately. The brood of gossip prevails in every human especially in teens. There are two kinds of gossip though: harmless innocuous gossip or the hurtful cruel gossip. Harmless gossip usually arises out of mere chatter which eventually arises out of boredom. It may be true or maybe not. But it just remains a behind the back talk not really affecting the life of the target. However the hurtful gossip arises out of a grudge one holds against the victim or the mere demeanor of lashing out at the victim resulting in his/her fallout from the social circle. In the older times, when my mother was young, gossip did prevail but there were very few instances of it being a brutal ambush. It usually used to be frisky and there were hardly those few who would be the flamboyant in their stature and would indulge themselves in gossip to look down upon others. However today as I witness the world around me, I see my generation turning into those lurid kids of my mum’s time whereas there are hardly those few who choose to be down to earth and less flattery.
The main cause of the callous gossip is the growing seeds of envy in people. Teens these days choose to overlook the virtuous side of the person and only wish to rise above them by making them a victim of gossip. Fame stardom all are ambiguous results of gossip. However it depends on whether it is helping you achieve notoriety or making you the good over evil. Teens think resorting to iniquities like smoking or drinking due to peer pressure will make them look cool or perhaps make them look like the sporty chivalrous one. However they lose the insight on where their true morals lie. All this will bring them good only till they remain in the viscous well of teenage. However when they grow into adults and conquer the throne of responsibilities, and turn into moral ideals for their off-springs these vices is not going to be fruitful. People in their teens spread false rumors about a person they do not actually dislike but fail to understand why they are liked by others. This envy captivates their realm of virtue and right before them stands gossip ready to embrace them in her condescending arms. In the spectacle of the attention the person begins to receive from friends and others and helps him/her rise above their own vindicated self-respect, they turn into heartless cold blooded individuals who do not care about the feelings of others and just keep marring the vulnerable victims in their society.
These gossip mongers cannot be blamed entirely for what they turn into because they themselves have been victims of shallow self-esteem and lack of attention. This may arise as an outcome of a turbulent family background or may be the fear of always being the invisible unnoticed one in the peer. All I would concur to is that nobody can stop the people from gossiping nor can they avoid being victims of it. The only thing we can do is to not indulge ourselves in activities that can provoke a gossip. That doesn’t mean you can be content and survive in a gossip free world. Every niche around you has a scandalous someone waiting to plot against you just for mere fun, or empathy towards oneself. You just have to accept it the way it comes! And as the paradigm goes “ignorance is bliss”, ignoring trifling gossip is the best way to just let it pass by. However make sure the ones you trust are not planting a gossip against you for their muse because that you cannot flout! Keep the ones who are close to you closer and reveal to them the real you. The outside world has no right to linger upon your privacy and doesn’t need to be aware of the intricacies of your life.