What is a secret?
I was about to get off the car near my mother’s house when I reminded my son, “Remember our deal that you will be good and I will tell my mother that you are being a good boy.”
“No it is a secret.” He replied.
I explained to him that there was no reason why our deal should be a secret because it is a good thing that should be spread. So that he can lead by example.
This has took me back to the concept of a secret. I was thinking how I can explain the principle to my son. When to keep something a secret or when you have to tell your parents about something.I remember as a child a secret was something special. A piece of news that no one else knew about and it had a special value to it. It is something you might consider boasting about in a playground. “I know something you don’t know’ kind of thing and oh boy do I regret sharing few. You can never guess what other people’s intention with news.
Then I reflected back on a cultural misuse of the word “secret” or “don’t say this to anybody”. Some people say this sparingly (I do that sometimes for my ideas in case I want to copyright them).
For some, however, it is a copied disclaimer that that probably means that “I am not supposed to tell you this” or “I can say it but you can never quote me.”
Well I never liked secrets because I cannot manage to hide things. I don’t like to be told a secret unless it is of value but still I feel that it is a big responsibility. The most useless type of secret is a scandal that someone might tell you just for the sake of saying it, then I would think, “what was the point of knowing?” I only reason I would be interested if I can make a different but just hearing about people’s misery or misfortune makes be feel burdened. So if there is a secret that is not worth sharing then “No thanks”.
