Most times I wonder what reward people gain in trying to pull others down. The world is too big and large enough to contain all of us, we all have our destinies and time to shine. And one person's rising can't stop that of another.
It hurts me terribly whenever I see people talking bad about someone or painting the person black. Even if it were a joke, I don't find it appealing.
If someone is doing something that is offensive to you or something you don't consider right, I prefer, talking to the person directly than going about saying terrible things about the person.
It's so unfortunate that the act has become something trending in our society today. Every day we see such on display from social media down to the physical world.
I don't see any reason at all for anyone to go about destroying another person's image no matter the offense the person committed. Imagine it was you, how would you feel?
So many times, I heard that some of my friends were saying some bad things about me and I wondered why. If it was an outsider, I would have understood but coming from someone I call a friend is heartbreaking.
Sometime last year, I heard a rumor that a man in our community went about spreading the news that I am a womanizer and I don't have focus.
At first, I thought it was a lie because I don't believe in what I didn't hear from the source personally. But then, I still heard the same thing from another person. In fact, this time around the person came in the name of preaching to me which I appreciate a lot.
It was then, that I decided to meet the person who was spreading that kind of information about me and address the matter.
Well, whenever I am confronted with something like this, the first thing I do is to verify how true the information is and who is behind it. After getting such information, I will create time and go and meet the person and talk sense into him or her.
If the person listens and stops, I will let it slide but if he/she continues then I will be forced to report him/her to the authorities or to the elders in the community.
There is nothing that is as precious as a good name. People define us by what they hear or see about us. No matter how innocent one may be, if your image has been tarnished by someone, you will barely earn respect from people, even those who haven't met you in person before.
It's better to beat me than to spoil my reputation. Through good names, people got opportunities and trust that transformed their lives, imagine someone tampering with something as precious as that. It's just like trying to set a barrier to prevent you from progressing.
One funny thing with someone spoiling one's reputation is, that even if the person repents and apologizes, it can't write off that stain that it has wrought.
Even if the person confessed it on air through the radio and television, some people will never believe it again, they might think he was bribed to do so.
How will you now change the narrative? In the end, you will just have to carry that bad mark for the rest of your life. This is why we don't have to take issues like this lightly. I am not saying we should use violence, no! Attacking fire with fire only makes it burn more. There are many peaceful ways to address things like this but we should never let such matter go without addressing it.
Even if you believe in peace and letting things go, things like this should not be left because if you don't address it, the person will still go ahead and harm another innocent individual.
