Rumor has it…(pt 2)

To avoid being caught up in the web of gossip, here are a few ideas I have. Please feel free to add any ideas you have.

First, I think you have to recognize it as a distasteful habit you want to get rid of or reduce. If you do not think there’s anything wrong with spending time doing nothing but discussing people’s lives, then this article probably has nothing to offer you.

At any point in time, we have a lot going on our lives. There are goals we are trying to achieve and there are those we have achieved. So when you gist with a friend, if you talk about your lives, you probably won’t have enough time to cover all these areas. Talk about your life, ask about your friend’s. Talk about your love life or your quest for one, your work…your career plans, your successes, your failures, your fears. When you are done talking about yours, ask about your friend’s life. Did that guy she talked about call her back yet? Did she go to see the doctor?

You can steer the conversation gently away from a direction you don’t want. Guys hang out for several hours and hardly say anything personal. They talk about cars, sports and money-making tactics. As a result they hardly have all the drama that female friendships are full off. The truth is, if you ever needed a help, how many of these friends would you be able to call on?

Go shopping together, share recipes, advice each other, tackle problems together…even pray together. I think these are more worthwhile ventures.