That was an interesting thing you told me just now about our friend. I never would have guessed!

It was just a little thing, like a tiny drop of poison. It’s not enough to kill my friendship with her—just enough to make me eye her with suspicion. Don’t worry. I’ll still be her friend. I can overlook that kind of thing. Still, I don’t suppose our friendship will ever be quite the same. It’s so hard to wipe something out of my mind once I know about it.

That was sure interesting what you said about how she did that and what she said. I can see how it could be true. But it leaves me wondering—did I really need to know it?

I wrote those words many years ago after a friend had come to visit. She shared many little slightly negative things about many people I knew but hadn’t seen for a long time. It made me think less of them all, and it made we wish she hadn’t told me.

Do you have secrets for helping you guard your words? Or maybe you’ve discovered an effective way of steering a conversation away from negative comments about someone else. If so, can you share it with me and my readers? We all need help in this area.