What are you afraid of?

Workout:  List and describe your three biggest fears

I read somewhere that if you know what someone is afraid of you know what they need.  The workout this week is not to overcome your fears but simply to name them.  You don’t have to stop at three; you may have more.  Spend some time though in identifying the things you are afraid of.

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Now what are you going to do?

Imagine that you’ve just won 10 MILLION dollars. Feel good?  Feel happy?  I’ve been thinking about this preparing for an upcoming seminar and am considering it a possible alignment diagnostic tool.  If you did won, unexpectedly, lots and lots of money, what would you do differently than you are doing now?  How would your life change? Would you still work at what you’re doing now, live where you’re living now, etc?

Gossip is sometimes referred to as halitosis of the mind. – Unknown

Gossip needn’t be false to be evil – there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around.  – Frank A. Clark

Who gossips to you will gossip about you. – Proverb

Conversation is an exercise of the mind; gossip is merely an exercise of the tongue. – Unknown.

The things most people want to know about are usually none of their business.  – George Bernard Shaw

You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.  – Leo Aikmang

What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t witness with your mouth.  – Jewish Proverb

Workout:  stop the gossip.

Again, like nearly every workout we do, some will find this particular one easier while others may find it more difficult.  Here’s what we’re trying not to do:

gossip |?gäs?p|
casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true

Gossips are listed with some of the worst of the worst evils.  In the Bible it is associated with such things as murder, slander and malice.

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,  slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; Rom. 1:29-30

To be successful in this workout you must be able to self-monitor your thoughts and conversations in the moment.  If you are prone to gossip with certain people (e.g. friends, co-workers) prepare yourself before seeing them and be alert during your conversation.  What are you watching for?  “Unconfirmed casual or unconstrained conversation or reports” about people who are not there.

In the ancient Greek language the word that get’s translated as gossip is psithyristeœ.  The same word is translated in English as whisper.  We know when we’re in the rumour mill, participating in the production of gossip.  It’s that same sneaky, clandestine feel of the secret whisper.  Be a cog in the machine.  Stop the whispers.