Some days I wonder if it is worth getting out of bed. There
just seems to be more going wrong in the world than right. I turned on the morning news, before I rolled
out of bed and heard about a bad accident on the interstate. Two people were airlifted to the
hospital. And on the hour, they said the
news was going to cover a murder that happened over night where someone was
arraigned first thing in morning in the County Court. We got to see a mug shot of the charged
person.
Next on, the weather man who tell us viewers it is going to
rain hard and possibly hail late afternoon. Hail, maybe he meant to say hell,
because that is what the newscast has been so far. But, then, I look over at my night stand and
see my water bottle just before I give in to throwing the blanket over my
head. The bottle is half full. And I am thirsty. As I reach out my arm to grab the bottle, I
realize, well a sign of life, that water bottle. I drink and I realize something good is about
to happen. Already the day improved. It is all about how you
look at it.
I use to be a hater of social media. I thought Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, My
Page, etc…was idle chat. On the outside
looking in, it seemed like a gossip network.
Some of the posts were derogatory, politically motivated, racist, or
promoting items and services people were selling. To me, having a career in marketing and
sales, it was an instant turn-off. It felt like an extension of my work
day. But, once I took another hard look
at it, on my off time, as more and more of my friends became well versed at it
and pushed me in the direction of using it, I begun to see why. The true value of this form of communication is
what it brings to live, to our world, connections, relationships and news in a
positive format. Amen to that!
When we pick up the phone, in our busy lives, and talk to
the few close friends in our circle, it is more likely to be about the news
worthy events in our lives. We make
plans for dinner, we talk of upcoming items on our agenda, and information we
have learned about our kids or our community and building up our relationship. This
stuff matters a great deal no matter how busy we are.
But, there are other people in life that matter too, people
we don’t see very often at all. It is impossible to stay connected with everyone
these days. We can touch those lives and
those folks can affect ours just by a profound or simple quote, a shared image
or a thought for the day. These are the
folks we are connected to via social media. This is the stuff that truly makes
life, some days, simply sparkle. When all else seems doomed, one can log onto a
site like Facebook and be instantly reminded how great the world is and the
people that are in it!
You can read,
for example, about someone like Renee, who is battling cancer again and is just
as sharp witted as ever! Positive
attitude exudes from her central being. A little autistic boy like Ty who is
more infatuated with a cell phone than any toy named to children. He is constantly surprising those around him
with his accomplishments and awakening others zest for life with his profound
advancements. Someone like Eileen has
found a playful side to her personality again through her grandchildren. Those
of us that follow her know, when the grandkids are coming over, we will be
treated to funny posts and seeing our friend our age acting like a child again.
It reminds us we are never too old to have fun!
There is Lizzi who loves putting
videos up of her daughter cooing so the rest of us can watch and giggle over
her cuteness. Ramon is a prime example of someone who takes his love of
writing and talent, constantly writes things on his Facebook page as posts
where he is the butt of the jokes. He
creates on-going dialogue on his page and then gives himself therapy, for all
the world to read, without charging himself! In doing so, it serves as a lesson
to us all to not take ourselves quite so seriously. Hence the title of his book, When Will My
Life Not Suck?
The list just goes on and on. You can easily write your own. On a bad day, log on to a social media site
and just count how many positive posts you read in 15 minutes. You will be
amazed! It is a great example of how we can and do lift each other up. Amazing, huh, that the news has not found a
way to mimic this and feels the only way we will watch the news on television
is if bad stuff is reported. No wonder
so many newspapers have gone under and the news programs are finding it hard to
get viewer ship numbers up.
I, for one, do not enjoy following anyone who is constantly
down, negative or full of hate. Life is
about counting pennies thrown in by a wishing well, admiring flowers in bloom
and listening to others funny stories about their life and laughing with them,
not at them. Looking at others photos of
life awakens memories within me of similar tales and sometimes it’s just simply
something to laugh at or be in awe of like the Fourth of July fireworks.
Life is funny that way, don’t you think. My grand-daughter and I pulled in my
driveway the other night. I was pointing out the moon and she said, “Grandma
but where are the stars?” I told her
they would be here soon. She was worried because she didn’t see them yet. So,
when we got home, we went and stood in the backyard waiting for the stars to
come out. We got tired of waiting so
went out front and drew with chalk on the driveway until suddenly she
remembered what we were out there for. All the sudden, she screamed bloody
murder, “Grandma!!!! The stars are here, see the star, Grandma?” I looked at her with a big smile on my face
and said, without looking up at the sky, “Yes, honey I see the beautiful star!”
