So I've finally had enough. I've said it before, but this time I'm taking action. My health, my mind, and my mood are so fickle that I can no longer waste time fighting with people just for the sake of fighting. As much as I enjoy a good debate, a 'good' debate is so hard to find and most times it just breaks down into name calling or a barrage of over-intellectual sounding statements that really don't mean anything. For example, just the other day I made a facebook post that basically said "hey, let's try loving people" and I got hammered by someone trying to prove Biblically that I need to hate. Serious? Yes, I am serious.
Enough. That person has been blocked on facebook. Now in the past I've tried not to do that. I mean, should I really block someone just because they don't agree with me? But this individual, it had gotten to the point where I was afraid to speak my mind, write my blog, or even post a picture because of what he might say. Even my last post where I wanted to rant, I censored myself because I was always thinking "oh, if I say this, he will say that".
I gave him control.
And the worst part? I don't even know the guy. At all. He never posts a status update, never talks about himself or his family or anything, only makes comments when it's something he can fight about. I can't honestly tell you when or how he got on my friends list. He's the high school friend of a brother of a friend that I haven't seen in ... gosh ... 8 or 9 years? And I have never met the brother either.
So now he's gone from my life.
Was that wrong? I don't care. As I said before, I'm all for a good debate. I've got people on my friends like that have very greatly opposing views from mine. Somehow we manage to talk about these things without getting into long winded explanations of why the other is wrong. Somehow we manage to keep the debate civil, polite, and dare I say friendly.
I'm letting go. Giving in. Giving up. Surrendering. To what? To my urge to kick these people out of my life. I'm tired of it. It's over. Done with. I'm moving on.
And man does it feel GOOD!
So here's the new rules. If I don't like what you post on facebook, I'm just going to ignore it. Does that mean we can't be friends? of course not. It just means I don't like your post.
If I post something and you comment, and I feel that comment is nothing more than an attempt to draw me in to a debate that isn't really a debate, just you trying to prove how 'right' you are, I might delete it. Nothing personal. Deleting the comment is not an attack on our friendship, it's an act of self preservation. Comments like that are to me as catnip is to a cat. I can't resist. Deleting it is my way of cutting myself off from my addiction. Honest, it's not a reflection of you or your opinion.
If your comment is polite, friendly, relevant, yet contradictory, I will welcome it and the discussion that will follow.
Same rules apply to my blog, my other blog, my other other blog, my google+ page, my Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter profiles.
Are you still reading? Ok good. Then it means you're my friend. That you 'get' me.
Am I always right? No. Quite the contrary. I'm hardly ever right. Sometimes I have very strongly held opinions that are completely out in left field. I'll revisit them in a month or a year or so and I'll read what I wrote and think "Oh. My. Gosh. Was I that stupid?" And I was.
Like everyone, I grow. I change. My opinions grow and change. The stake I plant today I will rip out and plant it someplace else tomorrow. I try not to be militant about anything, but rather always look at my thoughts, opinions, beliefs as growing, changing, always seeking the truth.
