CL New Year’s Resolutions: Don’t Be the Mean Girl!

Crying Girl: I wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school … I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy…
Damian: She doesn’t even go here!

I don’t think the 2004 film “Mean Girls” would have been so funny and prolific had it not been so true. Between roommates, classmates, family members, sorority sisters and friends, there’s a lot of women in our lives. And women are social—we like to talk and interact with each other, and sometimes that goes awry.

So it’s easy to sit with friends at lunch and rag on your ex’s new girlfriend, the coworker who failed to cover your shift at work or the friend who has suddenly found a new group.

I’m no saint–I do it. We all do. But if I’m honest with myself, the whole thing just leaves me feeling like gum on the bottom of someone’s Ugg boot. By talking about these people, I let them take over my life. And some people just aren’t worth that much.

So this year, I’m NOT going to be the mean girl—and the whole blogosphere can hold me accountable (please do!).

There’s a parable about a woman who was gossiping and, feeling remorseful, asked a priest for forgiveness. He told the woman to climb onto her roof and stab a feather pillow, scattering the feathers to the wind. She did and returned the next day, again asking for forgiveness.

“Now, go and gather the feathers,” the priest said. “Because you can no more make amends for the damage your words have done than you can recollect the feathers.”

Our words and thoughts are powerful, so much so that they taint our lives and our minds.

I want to surround myself with positivity this year. I’m going to take the high road.

Plus: Living well is the best way to get even.

Stephanie Hardiman is an intern with College Lifestyles (TM). She is a journalism major at Washington and Lee University and a proud sister of Pi Beta Phi. She likes witty banter, public radio and living in the Midwest.