Secret and Confidentiality

Do you have secrets?

I believe everyone have secrets of their own. Things that they don't want others to know, or things that they would only let a select few know of. Secrets are common, though for the most part, people don't know because it's a secret.

Secrets, in one aspect, should be treated as a rite of passage to one person. Having one person tell you about their secrets in life means that they trust you enough with those secrets. To some, the secrets that other people hold are trivial - people they like, decisions they're pondering over. There are some secrets though, that are far more serious; in one sense, they can be considered skeletons in the closet.

Being told of a secret is a right and responsibility. As I've previously explained, divulging secrets needs a certain level or degree of trust. As such, you have the responsibility of taking care of that trust. In one sense, it also determines how trustful you can be. If people can trust you with little secrets, then it would just be a matter of time before they let you in on bigger secrets of life.

I've always seen myself as a "secret-keeper", in the sense that people tell me things that they don't usually say to the common folks. More surprising is the fact that some of them aren't even my closest friends. It's in a way flattering because it means that either they see as someone they can trust or someone no would believe (I'm leaning on the first). It does, however, put pressure on me at times.

I can say that I'm good at keeping secrets. I did have some mishaps in the past, but for the most part, I've kept secrets pretty well. Some have even been buried in my memory, never to be spoken of or thought of again.

Secrets should be kept with confidentiality. Secrets, especially personal secrets, are to be treated as highly classified and confidential information. In as much as we are in the information age, there are still things that aren't and shouldn't be said to the general public. Even families have their own secrets. Even members of families have secrets from each other.

Secrets aren't the only things that should be kept confidential. Even in the workplace, there is still a sense of confidentiality. Company information, generated income, your monthly salary, personal information, client information - all of these are considered confidential. Not everything that people talk about are to be shared. For some though, they lack the proper judgment which to share and which not to share.

I highly regard personal privacy, if you will, and confidentiality. It is something based on trust. And trust isn't something that can be bought from any convenience outlet. It is something earned, and it is something that can be taken away. Like many things, trust is something that can be shattered by one instance, much like how a vase can be shattered by a small push.