There is a teaching in yoga called “Satya”which translates as commitment to truth.

There is another teaching called “Asteya” that translates into non-stealing.

Stealing is subtle.  In the past I’ve considered stealing to be taking something from someone that I hadn’t paid for, and like you; I wouldn’t dream of doing something so silly as an adult.  And yet stealing is far more than taking an object.  Stealing can be taking someones reputation, peace of mind or personal side of the story away.

While having lunch the other day, I overheard 2 women talking at the table next to me.  One was an obviously new employee of the company, the other a seasoned woman conducting the orientation.  As I ate my lunch. I heard the experienced woman go through each person in the office one by one filling the new girl in on office gossip.  “You won’t like Bob, no one does, he’s….” (blah blah blah…I’m sure you get the picture). “Nancy, well you will see soon enough, she’s incompetent and untrustworthy”.  She went on to many others but I won’t bore you with those details here.

It hit me quickly in the pit of my stomach; I had just witnessed one person steal from many with her words.  She was robbing Bob, Nancy, and others of their present and future with this new employee.  The water was being tainted and this woman’s first impression of these people would never be a clean slate.

Gossip is toxicity in action.  It’s wrong.  We steal from others by ruining their reputation.  They aren’t there to defend themselves, not able to tell their side of a story, not even given an opportunity to clear an indiscretion.  We keep the negativity alive with our words and by doing so, we rob others of a clean slate.  Who are we to judge, pass negative words around or taint the water for others?

Practicing Satya and Asteya is a daily practice.  Commitment to truth and having the strength to refrain from stealing by practicing Asteya will change your life.  You vibrate at a higher frequency and start to attract like minded people into your inner circle.  Gossips and energy suckers drop out of your life as you no longer feed their need for negativity.  Being around people that do not practice truth and do not honor non stealing  can tend to justify subtle negative behaviors that go unchecked in your own life.  These small unchecked indiscretions affect our lives in ways we can’t even recognize.  By knowing in your own heart your commitment to Satya or truth; and practicing Asteya or non stealing in all areas of your life, you are set  free from guilt, regret and remorse.

I went through a break up three years ago and experienced many women in my town siding with my ex in hopes of dating him.  I suddenly went from being just me, to being “the ex”.  Gossip flew and in typical toxic fashion, people spoke negatively about a situation they knew nothing about…..Sadly, had the truth been out in the open, most of these women would have instinctively put their arms around me and hugged me in compassion.  For years, I was robbed of my reputation.  In recent days, most of these people have gotten to know me and seem to have put their toxic words to rest; yet I suffered greatly from the sloppy stealing of my reputation.

It was a real practice for me to not spread my side of the story.  I definitely slipped a few times and felt far worse after doing so then I would have felt simply enduring the gossip.  This taught me something important: words can steal peace from another’s life. I’d felt it first hand.  Other people’s lives are really none of our business.  Our obsession with watching drama and human disasters on television feeds a weak part of our brain that is highly addictive, highly negative, and sadly makes us feel better about our own life when viewing or talking about another’s tragedies.

So while we would never steal something from a store.  We do have to watch our tongues daily.  Even the most innocent hearsay can affect someones life and when we affect another without their permission; we are stealing.

The good news is that everyday we get to hit the reset button and start over again.  If you’ve been stealing from another with your words, you can stop.   By freeing ourselves from this habit of stealing, we free the people around us to be new again;  in turn we fly free with our wings of truth towards who we know we really want to be in our life.

xo

Images Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net. Sunglasses by Vegadsl, Jail Cell by Arvind Balaraman, birds by Liz Noffsinger, business man by healing dream, nest by renjith krishnan.