I miss writing. Plain and simple. I need to do it more. So, tonight, I start here.
First, I beg your forgiveness upfront as most of the time I am working from my iPad. My spelling and grammar may slip through corrections. But I ask you be kind, as we are all human and let's face it, somedays it is hard to be a human.
The reason for my post today stemmed from something I had a Facebook acquaintance post. She wrote the following:
I agree with her on so many levels. How often do we put our lives out to social media in an attempt to let others know "It's OK"? And I will raise my hand as an offender of "vague posts".
About a month ago I was chatting with a dear friend who was sharing some concerns about another dear person in our lives. This person she was speaking of has a 'perfect' life on Facebook, but her reality is much different. My heart breaks for them both.
An article I read recently states, "Is our social media use turning us into psychopaths bent on dishonesty and poor behavior – among other problems? A new study by the team at WhoIsHostingThis suggests that social media might be bad for our overall attitude towards social behavior.
"According to the company’s research social media users lie more than non-social media users and have more vanity. 2,000 women were surveyed in one study used for the company’s findings and 30% of those women admitted to lying about doing something interesting when in reality they were at home alone. The study also found that 25% of Facebook users admitted to falsifying some of their social account data."
(Read more at http://socialnewsdaily.com/15070/social-media-is-making-us-less-honest/#IYz1JkMMYiOAyyUY.99)
WOW!
I thought about the 'dishonesty' this acquaintance wrote about. Though, is it dishonesty, or is it a method to cope for those who are sharing their lives on social media? Is there anything wrong with choosing to focus on, if not accentuate, the positive things going on in life rather than pointing out the negative?
Now don't get me wrong. I am not justifying what a person shares, or does not share. I am not saying it's ok to be dishonest. I am only giving food for thought. We all deal with pain in such a different way. There is no rule book for social media in respect to what we share about our lives. However, I feel there is, like this acquaintance's post pointed out, a measure of expectation whether spoken or not that comes when we begin to feel inadequate.
Do we have opportunities to improve ourselves and/or our online presence? That is for you to decide. I cannot answer that for you.
Do we also have opportunities to be more charitable to one another? Again, that is for you personally to decide. We are all fighting battles. Some are more public than others. Each person at some time could use a hand up.
Today my coach at Crossfit noted I was struggling. I had chosen to do a workout alone, even though I had the opportunity to do it with a partner. She asked me how many more Mountain Climbers I had. I told her I had 15. She got down on her hands and feet and did them with me while we counted.
A hand up. Servant leadership.
I put the food for thought out there because, while my life is by no means perfect, I chose to look to the positive in my life. If I chose to speak/write about the negative, I would feel a whole lot worse about the happenings in my life. Just the same as if I were seriously being dishonest, like the things on the poster, about my life.
Example: Today, the #WOD was hard. It kicked my trash. But more than anything, I will not remember having done the HUGE workout on my own, I will remember this coach and how she gave me a 'hand up'.
Honestly, I wish I could say everything is peachy-king in my world. It's not. I am flawed. I am human. My experiences with others are 100% genuinely human.
Perhaps through my 'vague' posts I am more transparent than I believe. Or maybe because of your own personal experiences, you are 'reading into' what I am writing. You won't know if you don't ask.
Focusing on the positive is by no means meant to make you feel less about yourself, inadequate, etc. It is selfishness on my part. I need it. I need to share positivity, happiness, the Gospel, conquered mountains, etc. I need to share my experiences because maybe someone needs it that day, or maybe it will incite thought for change, or who knows. Maybe it won't do anything and my words will just hang out in cyber space stored into some cache until a phrase catches in someone's search net. But I cannot, and will not, judge my writing/experiences based off of 'likes', comments, etc.
A while ago I came to the realization of the power of social media and I decided I wanted to share positive things, no matter how hard life was, no matter how much it sucked, etc. I am working hard because I want to be a light, whether people acknowledge it or not. Light dispels the darkness of life. But it all backfires if I beat myself up for not having more than 30 likes on a quote, experience, or shared link.
Are we perfect? No. Are we expected to be? NO. Do we have to share everything? No. Is life hard? Yes. Are we human? You betcha! Are we different? Thankfully, yes.
Know you are OK. Do NOT compare yourself against others. We are not the same and neither are our trials. Do NOT listen to the voices of dissenters.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf said once, "Chose to focus on those things that fill your soul with hope." So, post the good things that are happening in your life. If you feel the need, post the bad and allow us to share/console you in your heartache. But by no means compare yourself and/or feel you are inadequate because YOU are more than enough. Remember: We are all human and that is what makes the journey interesting.
Keep the Light On.
B
