The 24-Hour Gossip/ Negative Talk Challenge

Ah gossip and trash talk...a way to pass the time, feel closer to people and try to make ourselves feel better about our own lives. It is something that we are all probably guilty of at least once and probably thousands of times. I can honestly say that even before my commitment to living better, I was cognizant of trying to avoid doing this, but not with the same fervor as now. When I first started getting into all this personal development stuff, I read a lot about maintaining good energy, keeping vibes high and focusing my attention on good things that will get me what I want. Once these ideas enter your awareness, you start to become more observant of the things in life that definitely do not contribute to these ends. Talking about the lives and problems of other definitely qualifies as one of these things.

 We usually engage in this type of talk for three  major reasons, depending on the topic of conversation: to feel superior, to quell our jealousy or to make ourselves feel better about our own problems and shortcomings. When things are crappy in our own lives, nothing feels better than to talk about problems of someone else. When we feel jealousy towards someone, nothing will quash that uncomfortable feeling faster than saying something nasty or pointing out some imperfection. It's funny because our motivation to do these things is to help ourselves feel better, but if you tune into your feelings at the moment you are speaking these words, you probably are not feeling too great. How can you? You are engaging in something where negative energy is the driving force.

I propose a challenge to anyone reading this. A challenge that hopefully will get the ideas in this post permanently into your awareness. For the next 24 hours after your read this, avoid gossiping, speaking ill of others or passing judgement about decisions, lifestyle and the like. If you slip up, keep on it, do not just stop -- no one is perfect. I would be interested in hearing how it goes.


Learn more about the program that finally got my butt in gear: Click Here