Rumors, proper communication, and effects

-By Anirudh Vijayan

Rumors

Rumors, also known as the mediator for lies and the king of misunderstandings between relationships, can destroy a beautiful forest in no time like a wildfire and end good old friendships between you and your pals. Both men and women gossip, and ‘women-gossip’ is not more vindicative than that of men, as is often thought. With such new means of communication as the Internet, transmitting rumour is possible beyond the traditional oral and written forms.

Gossip is a game where anything you say to anyone will be modified. You say something to a friend, but your friend will say it differently because of human error and in no time the fake message will spread around and lose its accuracy. For example, at work in the IT team, Aegon wants something, Rebeca understands it as something else and askes David to do something entirely different. Even before you know it, all the roles get messed up. This is an example of human error and how common it can be.

At home, traditions are passed from one generation to another verbally on different things like cooking, culture, music, arts and so on, but with each passing generation we forget that things get distorted.

Rumors are by definition uncertain and lacking truth. This isn’t to say your friends are liars, this is to say that humans are humans, and they make mistakes. We love to spice up our conversations with gossip, therefore, we can’t live our lives based on such falsehoods. The closer we get to the original source the closer we get to the truth.

Rumors can attack your personal life too. Rumors have often brought down relationships, even long ones. Rumor is the poison that will keep on destroying you with toxins until its finally over. Gossip can be hurtful especially when its about your deep relationships. Whether it’s about a toxic person from the past or your current friends, rumors can cause a lot of agonies, after all, people talking around your back isn’t fun right?

So how do you stop this charade?

  • Rumors aren’t always true. Even if you have think they are, talk it out with your friends, well-wishers, and most importantly, the person in frame.

  • Proper communication is always the empathizer and solution for anything. Some people have severe depression because they don’t want to talk about their sadness, Misunderstandings break relationships, and the reason? Improper Communication. Just if on that one day, you are friends would have talked it out, there wouldn’t have been a misunderstanding leading to grudges and hatred.

  • You don’t have to go through this alone, If you don’t have the courage to talk to your friend or whoever keep someone in loop like your family members or someone who you feel comfortable to vent out.

  • Don’t just blindly believe anything out there, only believe it if it’s from a reliable source.

  • Don’t treat fire with fire – don’t take your revenge by spreading another rumor about that same individual. It’s not making you any different from them.

  • Don’t overreact to any situation. Don’t jump to any verbal or physical fight with that person. Learn to forgive, not fight.

  • Before you are convinced, weigh the consequences of both the decisions and determine which of those two consequences you are ready to bear. If you want some pros, it will always come with some cons; so, ask yourself, are you willing? There is no perfect situation in life.Do you want to risk your relationship, or anything for that matter, for just a gossip? Or do you want to be straightforward, and clear it out?

  • Life is never perfect. People will say a thousand things. Hold back for a second, take a breath, and make yourself calm. There will be people in life who will keep on talking bad about you. That shouldn’t pull you back. Yes, it hurts and it is upsetting, but it’s only you who can put yourself back on track- by talking to someone or pushing yourself forward, moving on from what people say.

Be proactive, and take charge of your mental health! You only live once, don’t fall for these petty rumors. Talk it out and live a wonderful life!