Facebook is an interesting animal.
For whatever reason, be it an assumption that people want to know or a complete lack of sense, we go on there and often post the most personal and private things that we would never think of speaking out loud in a public forum. And if, by some chance of fate, we don't post information like that, we certainly can see others doing it.
Why is this? Is it the anonymity that Facebook provides us that makes us think we can say most anything without suffering the repercussions of what's been said that, in turn, makes us so bold to say things best left unsaid? Do we forget that, along with our rant or public faux-pas, there is a cute little picture next to our words that clearly defines who we are in this online world?
Or worse... is this faux-pas becoming something that, in a few years, or perhaps even now, is no longer considered out of place or improper...?
Either way, like the Field of Dreams, if you post it - it will be read. And by read I mean scrutinized, and by scrutinized, I mean I'm going to talk about it here.
It seems to me that if we were to take the sum total of all the comments made on Facebook and filter them through the rules of "positive" comment and "negative" comment, then we would be left with one pile that looked something like a mound of raked leaves after a Delta windstorm and another pile that mirrored something like, oh I don't know... Mount Everest. Can you guess which pile would be which?
I understand having a bad day, or even a bad week. Heck - some people might shake their heads in agreement if we even discussed the finer points of having a bad few years... but consistently perpetuating that "badness" by posting it all over the internet is just bad taste. And if it's not bad taste, it's at least poor decision making.
Here's why: That statement lives forever!
I realize that by the nature of putting it on the internet you're making the proclamation that you don't care if anyone sees what you've said, but what about 1 day from now when you're not as angry... or maybe 1 month from now when you've reconciled with the issue you were once dealing with... or maybe 1 year from now when an employer asks if you have any sort of online presence. Does any of this go through the mind of the younger generation? Granted, by even asking that question I have A) disassociated myself with the generation and B) called myself old (Dang Mason, how can you call me that?!) - but my life was impacted immensely by the lives of young people not too long ago and I simply hate to see them live this way.
I can't mention anything specific here without risking the fact that someone I mention might actually be reading this and be offended that I talked about them - but even that judgement would be made in error. I'm only mentioning this BECAUSE I care, not because I don't.
You know, we call a thing "normal" because that's what happens most often in a given circumstance. It's "normal" to be upset when you lose a game. It's "normal" to speak your mind offensively when someone disrespects you. It's "normal"... But that's not right. What we've done is call a common thing "normal." We've imparted acceptance onto commonality. In other words - if enough people do a thing, it's okay for me to do it too... WRONG.
Don't be "normal" - be good! Be willing to be "abnormal" and swim upstream. Be willing to hang onto that which makes you kind and positive even when it's no longer "cool" to be happy. The world is making a mold around you of negativity and sorrow. Break that mold!!
Think on this - if Jesus had a Facebook page, and I believe he would, would he post any of the things you've posted in the past? Would he take time and effort to say some of the things you've said to THE WHOLE WORLD? Would he? In all the times that Jesus had a conversation with another person - did he ever come close to spewing vile words? Nope... but we do. And we claim to be remade in his image. His actions and our actions often look nothing alike. What's that say about us?
Listen... I know this is a rant. I apologize if you came looking for deep Spiritual insights and found this instead. But I am burdened over and over again by reading negative things. Could I not read them - sure. But I don't read them for entertainment, I read them to be involved in a person's life. Like Jesus sitting over Jerusalem, I look at "my" family and cry over them because I know the way for everything to be better - but they, too often, seem happy wallowing in their unhappy and unfulfilled lives.
We have to wake up from this sleep - we have to change the "norm" and that starts with something as simple as deciding not to waste time speaking negative.
Don't let life happen to you - instead, happen to life.
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