Your Friend?
Your Friend?
One of the hardest things to do in this toxic environment of political, religious and cultural fog we find ourselves in is staying friends with people who do not share our beliefs. Yesterday, a friend online and in real life, put a placard on his Facebook page that said; “I am a supporter of (fill in the blank). If you do not like that feel free to unfriend me.” It’s where we are today in the world on social media, instant commentary, and judgment. I responded back to his post that I respected him and his family no matter his political, cultural or religious leanings and that he was my friend. Period. He liked my response and I was thankful because he and his family are important to me.
Friendship is underrated. One of the parts of social media I’ve never liked is calling a person you’re connected to online a “friend.” I think, hope, friendship is deeper than a connection between two computers. Sadly, however, I’ve been proved wrong a lot lately. I’ve heard people talking, read social media posts that declare the end of friendships. I want it to be hyperbole but relationships are tenuous in a chaotic world. We quickly find out who will and won’t stay friends with us. Division and dissolution of friendships and connections happen at lightning speeds.
We need to slow down. Take a breath. Remember that friendship should be more than affiliations, litmus tests, preferences and choosing sides.
blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com
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Posted on June 17, 2018, in Mindfulness and tagged #affiliations, #beliefs, #blessings, #chaoticworld, #choosingsides, #commentary, #connection, #connections, #cultural, #declare, #deeper, #dissolution, #division, #Facebook, #friend, #friendship, #hyperbole, #important, #instant, #judgment, #lightningspeeds, #litmustests, #placard, #political, #preferences, #provedwrong, #respected, #responded, #slowdown, #socialmedia, #stayingfriends, #tenuous, #thankful, #theend, #thewannabesaint.com, #toxicenvironment, #underrated, #unfriend, @BrianLoging, Family, breath, Relationships, Religious. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
Essentialist 
I’ve successfully converted a few facebook friends into offline friends. But at the same time, if someone does or says something online that I would not be ok with them doing or saying in my living room, I’ll step away from them. People reveal themselves in unexpected ways, and I have misjudged people in the past, thinking they were people I wanted to be friends with, only to find they had some ideas I really couldn’t be ok with.
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