One of my ideas for a discomfort challenge was to start a rumor about myself. Logistically, this seemed difficult. Maybe unethical, even.
Luckily, I didn’t have to start a rumor. Instead, I came about a juicy rumor about myself.
What was the rumor? It was that my spouse and I have sex on camera for a living. If this was true, I wouldn’t be living in my parents basement right now.
A handful of people told me they heard the rumor. It seemed the rumor stemmed from the same source, my friend who we’ll call Pappy.
One of my other friends, who we’ll call them Shmeegle, said not to confront Pappy right away. “Give yourself a day to cool off.”
I was eager to confront Pappy, but Shmeegle was right.
The next day I calmly confronted Pappy. Pappy denied having anything to do with the rumor.
I could have gotten mad at Pappy. I could have pointed out that it’s unlikely that everyone lied about what Pappy said. But instead I admitted to Pappy that I wasn’t convinced that she isn’t involved. But I was just going to let it go.
Perhaps Pappy doesn’t remember making a joke. And then several people misinterpreted that joke as truth. Or perhaps Pappy is lying, and Pappy remembered.
The stoics say, only judge what you can control. I can’t control this situation. But I can control my reaction.
The rumor didn’t affect me. It’s not worth worrying about. I’m still trying to figure out what happened, but I’m not upset or mad. It’s not worth my energy.
I may need update this post in the future as I figure out more.