A dear friend once said to me, "multiple things can be true at the same time."
What a simple statement...
But one of the most powerful thoughts that I have ever heard.
Of course, we all KNOW it. But, we all know so many things that we just don't apply or don;t remember at the times when they are most valuable.
I have been reading and hearing a lot lately about "Facebook Lives". The "life" that we talk about on Facebook and on social media is not our "REAL" Life... its the perception of the life we "wish we lived, or "very occasionally" live.
WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT?
On the one hand, I get it. I like balance. I like understanding all sides of things. I like the big picture. Heck... I like and want TRUTH! And, TRUTH in its entirety does require the WHOLE truth.
But, why do we have to ruin a good thing>
Why, can't their be places, sites, moments where we share the very best of our lives,, and not question it?
A lot of people call me an optimist, and I really am not. I don't expect everything to go right. I don't.
As I have said before, I am a "gratefulist". I know the word does not exist, but it does to me. It is a person that realizes things will go right, and things will go wrong, and I will be grateful for simply living them. At least that is my intent.
Now - if we are posting LIES. That is different. If people are posting thoughts they DON'T have in order to create an illusion of their lives that they want the world to see. I have no interest in that. But, I can't judge it, and in the vast majority of cases, I don't know the intent.
I LOVE Facebook because it allows us to stay connected with so many people that have crossed our paths, and so many people we know and love in such an efficient way. And, it gives us a place to be heard and seen, and to learn, and to be connected. I think those are all pretty good things.
And, yes, like ANY medium, it will have some amount of nonsense, and some posturing. And, human flaws and insecurities will be a part of it.
I write about harmony, and EVERY DAY I feel disharmony on various levels. And, I think about whether I should write MORE about disharmony. Because that is the stuff that we all feel that doesn't get as much attention. And, I would like to. I need to be careful as its harder to write about disharmony and not share details of my life or my work that others around me would not find insensitive.
But, I will write more about disharmony. Because its real.
But, "multiple things are true at the same time" and you will see that I feel great disharmony AND great harmony in my life everyday. And, EVERY TIME that I feel disharmony I work to translate it into harmony. Because it can be. And because my life is better when I do.
So, let's not be naive. Let's not get angry at people or at "Facebook" for showing us a warped sense of reality. It's not a warped sense of reality, it simply is PART of reality, for the vast majority of people that are posting real feelings and activities.
In fact, it IS the part of reality that we should linger on... that we should feed from... that we should work hard to be mindful of....
There are many that post negative things on Facebook.
We FEED ourselves with our thoughts and the thoughts of those around us.
Why wouldn't we feed ourselves primarily with the beauty, the good, the happy?
THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE UGLY, THE BAD, and THE UNHAPPY don't exist. But, imagine a world where we all shared constantly the struggle, the sadness, the failures, the tragedy...
Where would that take us?
We want to and need it ALL. And, BECAUSE all of us LIVE the challenge of our minds DAILY, because we all know sadness and struggle, we want to celebrate and share the good.
CELEBRATE IT!
If you aren't on Facebook because you don't like all the "positiveness"... think about that..
I have heard of people that weren't on Facebook because it made them feel worse about their lives.... stop and think about that for a while.
YOU do WHATEVER you need to do. But, don't trash or taint what is a pretty amazing social tool and environment that over a BILLION people enjoy... just because you want more REALITY in your life.
REALITY is a combination of GOOD and BAD.
You don't have to get them both in the same place.
And, because one exists doesn't mean the other one doesn't.
Multiple things can be true at the same time.
Remember that...
And, remember that harmony isn't a state that you own for any longer than a single moment...
Every moment you have to find it again...
And, we find it more often if we are more mindful of the good, than we are of the bad.
My Facebook LIFE, IS my LIFE.
It is a PART of it.
Harmony IS MY LIFE.
IT is a PART of it.
As is disharmony.
That's the reality for all of us.
Noone lives a life FREE of disharmony or sadness or ugliness...
The question is which side do you feed yourself with? Which side do you FIGHT for, move toward... LIVE for...
I live for my facebook life.. and I accept and feel all of it....
Grateful for the good and the bad ;-)
AT least I try to be.
Nestor