Secrets Don't Make Friends

The trouble with secrets is that they are meant to be told... 

How do you find out about a secret?  Someone tells you.  Then what are you supposed to do with that burning desire to share the priceless news with someone else?  Tuck it away in your pocket like a lucky penny?  Sure, maybe that is what the teller intended you to do, but that's not realistic.  Often times the new holder of the information believes it seems harmless to share their newly found present with a close relative or friend... then down the line that comes back to bite them. 

So, when is it okay to divulge the information to "just one close friend" and when is it necessary to 100% pretend you never heard it?  That is a tough one.  I am sure the person who told you expects you to tell absolutely no one, but then again, they told you, so they did exactly what they are hoping you won't. They should know as soon as they open their mouth to you that it is only human nature for you to tell someone also, even if its just one more person, who will tell one more person who will tell one more person, that's just how it goes. 

It's like the game of telephone when you are a kid, seriously.  One kid tells another kid tells another kid, and all of a sudden the peanut butter sandwich is actually a Peter Pan Hammock!  It's crazy! Who would have thought the classroom was getting a Peter Pan Hammock!!!! How cool is that?  

It's tough, I try to be as good as I can when someone tells me something, but if it's something that truly should not be shared, it's probably best to just keep it to yourself, because no one, and I believe that no one can truly keep a burning secret to them self without telling anyone... 

Psychologists report that keeping secrets can lead to isolation and feeling of loneliness.  So maybe we all divulge secrets in order to maintain a bond with others.  When telling a secret and going through the motions, it is a way of saying "I just only you with this information" which causes a sense of closeness with that individual.  

In other situations, psychologies state that secrets are kept as a way of creating altruistic protection of others.  In other words, the friend sacrifices their own feelings of loneliness and isolation and keeps the secret, putting their friend before themselves.  This friend will hold that secret deep in their pocket as true protection of their friend or family member who told them. 

My opinion: maybe we should all have pets.... I tell my dog and my horse everything (yes, true story).  That way, at least they won't be able to tell another person your secrets.