When the grass is cut, the snakes'll show...
Speaking badly of others is the daughter of envy
and envy is where the sterile seek refuge...
I recently made a deal with myself to stop speaking ill of others for as long as i could. No more snide remarks about peoples appearance or conduct right after they walked out of a room. No more crabbing and bitching about how this manager, and that supervisor, didnt have a clue what they were doing. I wasn't even allowed to revel in the misfortunes of the black and fabulous ,as so faithfully recounted on SOHH.com. I think i lasted just about 3 hours. I tried again later on that same week, and failed to equal my unimpressive personal best.
Since Im not a schizophrenic, and nearly all of my verbalizations are directed toward others, I have to assume that most of the people I interact with are similarly disposed. I am rarely challenged when i talk shit about folks, let alone rebuked for it. Typically one negative comment from me about will trigger anything from a trickle to a torrent of like-charged material in return. I realized that maybe 70% of the "humor" i hear or engage in has, as its butt, a person who has no idea that they are being disparaged, and who very likely would be wounded by it if they did know.
I got a better look at myself last night when I was having dinner with friends of mine.One of our party excused themselves from the table, and a remaining companion took the occasion to make a cutting remark about them. Unprovoked, and apropos of nothing that came before it, it was a stab taken just for stabbing's sake. It became even clearer to me that I really dont want to be that person. Which, if im honest with myself ,is just another way of saying I dont want to be this person. Or I'd like to start being a much better version of this person.
The quote at the top of the page (italicized) was taken from the writings of Jose Albas, later known by many as St. Jose Maria Escriva. He was a priest in the Catholic church, canonized in 2002, and is most famous for founding the branch of that church known as Opus Dei. His organization has been the focus of quite a bit of negative speculation since the release of the novel The Davinci Code.While I cant say whether there is or isnt any truth in what Dan Brown has written about them, I can say that I found an important truth in what their founder had to say for himself.
and envy is where the sterile seek refuge...
I recently made a deal with myself to stop speaking ill of others for as long as i could. No more snide remarks about peoples appearance or conduct right after they walked out of a room. No more crabbing and bitching about how this manager, and that supervisor, didnt have a clue what they were doing. I wasn't even allowed to revel in the misfortunes of the black and fabulous ,as so faithfully recounted on SOHH.com. I think i lasted just about 3 hours. I tried again later on that same week, and failed to equal my unimpressive personal best.
Since Im not a schizophrenic, and nearly all of my verbalizations are directed toward others, I have to assume that most of the people I interact with are similarly disposed. I am rarely challenged when i talk shit about folks, let alone rebuked for it. Typically one negative comment from me about will trigger anything from a trickle to a torrent of like-charged material in return. I realized that maybe 70% of the "humor" i hear or engage in has, as its butt, a person who has no idea that they are being disparaged, and who very likely would be wounded by it if they did know.
I got a better look at myself last night when I was having dinner with friends of mine.One of our party excused themselves from the table, and a remaining companion took the occasion to make a cutting remark about them. Unprovoked, and apropos of nothing that came before it, it was a stab taken just for stabbing's sake. It became even clearer to me that I really dont want to be that person. Which, if im honest with myself ,is just another way of saying I dont want to be this person. Or I'd like to start being a much better version of this person.
The quote at the top of the page (italicized) was taken from the writings of Jose Albas, later known by many as St. Jose Maria Escriva. He was a priest in the Catholic church, canonized in 2002, and is most famous for founding the branch of that church known as Opus Dei. His organization has been the focus of quite a bit of negative speculation since the release of the novel The Davinci Code.While I cant say whether there is or isnt any truth in what Dan Brown has written about them, I can say that I found an important truth in what their founder had to say for himself.
posted by jayjay23 at 7:05 PM
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