A change of pace for today's update; something completely different. (After
all, how many times can I write about the awful weather we've been having down
here?) By the way, for a (welcome) change, we've gone nearly 24 hours without
any rain and the temperature got up to 26 degrees (79 F) today. Not bad for
"winter" eh?
Earlier today I stumbled across something written by a very wise man...
No, it sure wasn't me!... and as I read it, the message rang through loud
and strong. I could see myself as part of the problem, instead of being part
of the solution. Read on and see if you can learn something from this... and
if you can honestly say that it doesn't apply to you.... then you're
a better person than I.
Heard a good one today? No? Why not make one up? Let's have some fun and
see who we can start a good story about. If you work in the drag industry
every day you hear the latest hot gossip. If 10% of the stories were true,
drag racing would be in serious trouble.
The problem with rumors and gossip is that it performs no valuable function.
In fact it makes us all a little smaller because it always preys on the negative.
Have you ever noticed which rumor will travel faster: "He just lost his sponsor"
or "He just picked up a new sponsor".
What does this say about the person spreading the rumor? Most of the time
when a negative rumor is being spread it is done by someone with either a hidden
agenda or a "Napoleon" complex. A "Napoleon" complex is the result of an
individual's lack of personal esteem. They can be a very smart individual,
but still lack personal self esteem. It is their perception of themselves that
is in focus here.
Others may see them as smart, rich, successful; all positive aspects, but
how the individual reacts to others mirrors how they see themselves. They
have little self confidence in their own abilities and therefore have a need
to attempt to bring others down to their own perceived level.
A hidden agenda can be anyone who wants to create a hurtful situation for
their own personal gain or satisfaction. Hidden agendas are usually very well
hidden and the real reasons are very seldom known, but the teller of the story
is hoping to gain something or hurt someone and neither situation is conducive
to the truth, so just how much do you allow yourself to believe?
If you want to pass the story on, then you have a responsibility to find
out the truth, otherwise it is smart to just let it stop with you and carefully
evaluate the teller of the story., Just think, they could be telling a story
about you next week.
Strong individuals have no need to attempt to pull others down to their
personal perceptions of who they are. A strong individual will look at someone
successful and say to themselves: "I want to be where he is", instead of "They
must have done something illegal to get there."
It it easy to look at a successful person and say that they must have made
their money illegally; after all, look how hard I work and how smart I am and
I don't make that kind of money. The apparently logical deduction is that they
must have made the money illegally.
The unfortunate situation is that in 1% of the cases it is true, so therefore
in the other 99% it must be as well. You know the old adage: "Where there is
smoke, there is fire." Well, if that were true we would have the slicks on
fire in the burnout, wouldn't we? Smoke is smoke and fire is fire, so don't
be so quick to judge. Get all the facts -- from the source, not from anyone
else.
There is little value in pulling someone down as it only hurts both of you.
Most strong personalities usually don't care about the rumors, but problems
can arise when the rumors are malicious or libelous. If you are going to pass
a rumor on, it had better be true or you can be held responsible for telling
the story.
Now have we heard a good rumor today? No? So go ahead and have some fun and
start a story; just make the story about yourself. Let's see how much fun that
is.