What gossip have you heard about yourself that just isn't true?

When I was six my friend told me she wasn't allowed to come over to my house to play because my parents were divorced.

She said the word "divorce" like it was dirty.

I went home and asked my mom if divorce was contagious.

Despite what everyone was saying, my parents went ahead and split up anyway.

This is how I learned very early in life that the pursuit of your own happiness trumps what anyone may or may not be saying about you.

This incident occurred about 40 years ago. In that time, I've learned a lot more about gossip.

Here is a summary:

People talk less about you than you think. They have the audacity to be too  preoccupied with themselves to be concerned about you.

Why do people gossip? Because tearing someone else down is evidence that you are unhappy with a part of your own life.  The happier you are, the less you will criticize someone else, and the more empathy you will feel for what they are going through.

What someone says about you when they are unhappy with themselves is more about them than it is about you. As such, it's not ever a good guide for how to live your life. Don't make decisions based on what others might think or say. It will steer you wrong every time.

The busier you are working on you, your life and your happiness, the less time you will have to talk about others.

And even better, the less time you will have to show any concern for what others say about you.

I am a deeply flawed person. I have a lot of work to do and as such I have no time to waste.

To directly answer your question, I neither know nor am worried about anything anyone has to say about me, true or otherwise; and neither should you.

Read other answers by

Dushka Zapata on Quora:

• How can I stop worrying about what other people think?

• How has Quora changed your life?

• What makes a person boring?

Read more answers on Quora.

from Quora http://ift.tt/29WPohO