Please No More Freezer Meals!

Sometimes I feel like people have good intentions but are focused on the wrong ideas. I am sure I have this problem all too often and I wish someone would smack me in the side of the head when I do. I suppose understanding and perspective come with time and emotional maturity, but pettiness just rubs me the wrong way no matter how mature one may be.

 I feel like women innately need to be all up in each others business all of the time for no apparent reason. We act like it is okay by saying things like "I really just care about you" or "I am not judging you" but always turn to tell the next female with ears all about "the craziest thing I just heard, but you can't tell anyone because I promised not to tell"... I don't know why we as women tell other ladies about things we really don't want/need other people to know about. Obviously a need for attention is involved; any secret willingly shared is a secret that will not remain so for much longer once voiced (no matter how soft the whisper). We use excuses like the need for a second opinion or maybe we tell ourselves--or the girl we are spilling our guts to-- that we will understand our own thoughts better if we voice them. We trust not so blindly other women with our innermost hearts only for them to be hung from the flagpole in the middle of campus.

Can we please just worry about our own lives for a minute? If you genuinely care about someone and are concerned about an issue that they shared with you in confidence, talk to that person about it. Leave everyone else out. It is not mean to leave someone "out of the loop" if it is really not their concern. If the issue that was shared is something that may become public, use discretion in informing and seek to diffuse curiosity. Use integrity. Have some class. Seriously, ladies!

 I know that no one ever shares a secret with the intention of "spreading rumors" or heaven forbid "gossiping", but somehow rumors get started and gossip is spread. It is amazing how quickly a speck of dust can turn into a haboob. Information is power, and what we as individuals do with it can have a greater impact than ever intended or imagined. We must realize that there are more people in the world than just "me" and that something that may seem harmless to "me" could devastate one of the other "me's" that just happens to be occupying the same planet. So please, please, please be kind. Be sensitive. Be loving. Be caring. Be concerned. But please don't be petty. Don't share information that is not yours to share. Don't pass along negative judgements. Don't be hurtful--even if you think you are being harmless. Live the golden rule.