We’ve all done it, we’ve all sat around and talked about what we heard here or there from this person or that person. We’ve all been guilty of it at some point in our lives, I am very guilty of it and I own that 100%! Hell, I watch nearly every ratchet reality show there is and then talk about it as if I actually know them! Yeah, I know, I need to do better and worry about shit that actually matters and affects my life and I’m doing better, I promise. However, there will be times when you hear people talking about a person who isn’t there and spilling tea everywhere about every detail they’ve heard 3rd and 4th hand from other sources which are never confirmed as being accurate, it’s just hearsay. 
This is when it becomes a problem because someone’s character is being soiled by gossips who don’t even know this person’s last name, they just thrive off the drama. The saddest thing I’m learning is that men are worse than women in this day and age when it comes to gossip and being messy.
Have you ever been talking to someone and they start telling you YOUR business or the things they’ve heard you’ve done? You’re having a conversation and learning how fabulous or trashy your, in reality, boring life is ‘in these streets’.
I have lived in my home in a small town for 16 years now and, until 2.5 years ago, kept to myself and stayed in my house unless I was running errands for my household. I pride myself on being a mother and that’s all I did, my girls were my life, they still are but are now teenagers and ignore me, and didn’t have an interest in anything else. I was blessed to meet women from this area and started going out and enjoying what this little city had to offer. Well, in doing so, somehow word is I became a hoe because I was seen outside of my home at parties and functions. 
Rumors and gossip began to spread from the mouths of people, mainly men, because I was viewed as the new light skinned chick on the party scene and made up lies about me. The lies were so elaborate that I was rumored to be out in the streets when I was just sitting in my room vegging for the weekend, how impressive is that? Does it bother me? Hell yeah, how could it not? I always speak of Karma and crosses to bear and this is where I have to realize this isn’t my cross to bear but more of a lesson to be learned ~ no matter what you do, how clean you keep your nose and reputation, someone, somewhere isn’t satisfied with it and will do whatever they can to soil it.
I guess what really scrapes my nerves is the fact that men have become worse than a scorned woman and will spread lies about a female who didn’t return their advances. Seriously?! I’m not interested in you because my focus is somewhere else and your response is to start the, “I heard……….”? 
Yeah, very masculine and mature buddy. To quote a show, these spineless, insecure males are MITCHES:
What self-respecting man would sit around and gossip about what females are doing without knowing them? Oh, that’s right, my bad, I used the wrong word, they are not men, they are merely genetically male because a real man wouldn’t entertain such nonsense coming from another person, especially not another man. There are guys who will say a particular female sleeps around to dirty her reputation so either no one will want her or the only reason a male will approach her is because he believes she is easy and quick to have sex with him. For those Mitches? I hope your lil dang-a-langs shrivel up and never work again, why not? You’ve proven you’re not man enough to deserve it.
When you speak to others about someone else’s business which you were not privy to learn firsthand, and by firsthand I mean sitting there watching it actually go down, you show how messy you truly are. Too many times, the rumor is believed over the truth if anyone ever had the cojones to actually ask the subject of the lies being spread. Spreading and believing gossip without confronting the victim is a sign of a weak individual. 
It takes a strong person to actually sit down and say, “I heard a, b, c, about you from this source. I wanted to let you know what’s being and been said about you” and give them the opportunity to correct anything which isn’t true. But no, society is too weak minded to actually be grown and mature enough to have an adult conversation with another person. When you decide to spread the rumors and gossip instead of sharing the info with the victim, you have officially stooped to the level of a bitter, scorned individual who has nothing better to do with their time than spread lies.
When you spread and contribute to rumors and gossip, you’re showing how insecure you are within yourself and the life you live. If you were secure about everything you have going on and who you are, you wouldn’t have time to even entertain such foolishness. But alas, people who have messed up lives seem to feel talking about others is their only way to escape what’s not right in their own. You also have the ones who have so very little going on in their own lives, they thrive off the drama they hear ‘in these streets’. For these people, I merely say “Get yo life” and stay out of everyone else’s, especially mine. 
The reality is, my, your momma’s, best friend’s, co-worker’s business is not yours to tell. Have you ever wondered why, if these people’s lives were so fabulously perfect, why aren’t they bragging on themselves? Because they live in a world of despair, depression or even boredom, that’s why. What is accomplished by trying to bring another human being down thru lies? We really need to do better as a human race, there is more attention shown to the negative side of someone’s life than ever given to the good and positive they’re doing.
I, personally, have never been a jealous or envious person but that’s not to say they don’t exist in overwhelming numbers. A jealous person spreads lies, rumors and gossip about someone else they feel have it better than themselves.
Here’s the thing, my life is just that, mine just as is yours is yours. You have things I may not have and that’s fine, I’m not jealous because what’s meant for you is not meant for me, lives play out differently every single second of the day. Everyone’s lives and what they have are a result of the Karma created at some point in their lives. If you do good, work hard and strive to have as many material possessions as possible, that’s on you and what makes you happy. If you volunteer with the elderly or animals, the universe will reward you for your efforts. If you are constantly either spreading or believing rumors and gossip…………let me know how things are going in your life because I’m sure you feel like you can’t catch a break. Again, one simple but powerful word: KARMA.
Rumors and gossip also spread like wild fire because very few know what it means to be a friend to another person. You have people who smile in your face and want to be around you but that’s merely to learn your business so they can run and tell others. When you have a true friend, they won’t tolerate hearing your name dragged thru the mud and will let those speaking incorrectly about you know and then share with you what’s been said. A real friend has your back in every aspect of life and will be happy for your accomplishments, not diminish them by a lie from another.
At the end of the day, none of us always make the right decisions in life, we err and that’s okay as long as we’re learning from our mistakes. Our missteps should never be put under a microscope to be judged and criticized by others who don’t have their own lives in order. 
What works for your situation may not work for mine and vice versus, it is what it is, no reason to hate on it. There are so many things people will hate on when things aren’t going right in their lives, such as: someone who works a 9 – 5 desk job envies the person who works from home. Or the ones who see a couple who are sickeningly in love while they spend their weekends with Netflix and snacks. Instead of hating, them and be happy they’ve found love with the understanding you, too, will have it, it’s just not your time. If you live in a townhouse and someone else lives in a 7,000 square foot home, enjoy and beautify your abode, you never know what goes on behind their closed doors.
As you can tell, I hate rumors and gossip because it taints people’s characters and the opinions of others towards them. I believe if you’re a shit stirrer, you should be made to lick the spoon to gain the lesson of keeping your mouth shut about that which you don’t know. 
But, again, if we knew better, we’d do better, right? Focus on you and yours and the drama will not entertain you.