SOCIAL NETWORKING

I love facebook. Really. It has been such a great way to keep up with family and friends and also to meet new people. I have been found by old friends...some whom I keep in contact with, and others who I don't. I have the choice to accept their friendships or not...or to delete them at some later time. Like I have done with several.
Some people I choose not be associated with because I am not the person that I was in high school, thank goodness, but they still are....or their lifestyle and mine don't mix well, for various different reasons.
It is nice to read and see what people are doing in their lives....their work, education, family, children, etc. I have made friends from work that I would have never met and actually still haven't. We are web friends...due to the fact that we all work from home. But I have shared a lot of wonderful experiences and had some great laughs with them.
If someone deletes me from their friend list I'm not offended. We all have different reasons why we do some "cleaning" every once in a while. If someone doesn't accept me as a friend I'm not offended either. I figure that is what is so great about social networking.
There are some posts that must be shared. A friend will make a comment or write something that I really like and want to share it with the people I know. I figure if you post it, it is fair game. Of course..never divulging anything private or personal. It is usually a quote, joke, or something similar. My son has a friend that gets so mad and upset if he "steals" her status update...however....her being 13 yrs old I am sure half of what she writes she has "found" somewhere else....I told her to take it as a compliment. I would! I do!
However...there are those moments when someone will write something...someone else makes a comment and all of a sudden you feel your blood pressure rising. Usually because of the subject matter. I try to not ruffle any feathers on facebook. There are a wide variety of people with different beliefs and feelings about a lot of different topics...but every once in a while there is one that just gets to me. I usually bite my tongue and don't write a response. Giovanni tells me to leave it alone and not to worry about it.
I suppose that is what I should have done yesterday, but I just couldn't. It was stronger than me. And I was so upset about the situation. It was something dumb and didn't really matter in the big picture...but at the moment it was something that mattered to me...so I spoke up, but only after someone else "started the conversation"...a lot of other people jumped in and made comments as well. Some agreed with me, others didn't. It upset me for the whole day. Really. I know, how stupid. Something about America, Italians, happiness, Utah, Hispanic/Latin people, work, etc....oh my....you really don't want to know.
But the thing is...I got upset and offended by something so trivial. Yes...there is an issue...but at the same time it is impossible to "change" the way that people feel and think. When you are living the experience that you're writing/talking about it is hard to see the other persons opinion. I know that. I still have my own thoughts on the subject. I guess because I was the only native born American who was sharing their feelings.....and so my perspective is different. And I get that...but just the same....oh well. People and feelings aren't easily changed.
I did learn one thing..that I already knew...my husband is a smart guy! And I love him!
And I again have realized that happiness is relative. We all make our own happiness. We need to embrace what we have and be thankful for it. I can be "happy" anywhere...as long as I have my family with me. I know the difference between sadness, happiness, and being content. I've lived through them all, and still do. As long as I have my family I am fine. That is all that really matters.
However, I still love facebook, and I will continue to use it...but I'm going to unplug myself a bit and get away from it some...I will still use it for work....and to keep in touch with the people that I care about...but I am going to be a lot more careful about the comments that I make and not take so personal the comments that I read. I don't like feeling the way I did yesterday. It isn't worth it...I would rather find joy and happiness with my husband and sons and not through a pc monitor.