Diamonds in the Media, Post #10

I have been doing lots of searching online lately and I have found that lots of people let down their guard on these platforms. Some people get really mean or gross, but not everyone. The sorts of stories that it would normally take people a while to tell you are right there, ready to be read. It has given me a lot of insight to how other people think and how similar it is to my own thinking. I usually fall into the same bad habit of believing that I am the only one who feels some way, or that people would criticize my beliefs if they ever heard them. However, the more I read of other people’s lives and how they really feel the more commonalities I find.

The first thing I read that really hit me was a story about a guy and his friends. The guy’s friend’s dad said “you put too much faith in your friends. They won’t always be there for you.” As the story progressed I heard of many things the friends went through together. They saw each others lives be made with relationships, lifetime partners, weddings, homes, and kids. They also were there for when life went down by heartache, drugs, alcohol, moving, and … death. It was his friend’s father’s funeral. The guy and his friends were the pallbearers and were left with one last sentiment from the father “I was wrong. Your friends are special. They’ll be a part of our family until the end.” This story hit me hard because less than a year ago I had a major death in my family and I had two of my friends there with me to help me through. Even though I have never met this person or his friends and yet I can relate so much to his story reminded me of how human we all are, and that is what connects us.

Another writing that connected me to the human side of the internet was a story of mirrors. The writer in this wrote of his own flaws and how he would project his problems on to others. He speaks of his own chamber of mirrors were all the things he hates about himself he finds constantly staring right back at him through others. It is over drinking, and binge drinking that he struggles with. What surprised me was that he never tried to blame his problem on a situation or on someone else, he took full responsibility for his actions. I was honestly taken aback by this because I rarely ever see people take full responsibility for anything. I have also personally found it hard to take full responsibility for things even though it has been a goal of mine for a while. It was just really nice to see someone face down an issue in their life, get knocked down, and completely unfazed face it once again while fully acknowledging what has happened. I hope to keep those lessons with me for a long time.

I seem to find myself forgetting sometimes that we all have horrible things that shape who we are. To have a way to see the human side of people again has reminded me of just how complex each of our stories are. People may bash on social media, and I do to a lot of the time, but this past week I have seen a new side of it. I have seen a side that cuts past the surface and nullifies the other posts that in the end are meaningless.

I cannot encourage everyone enough to go searching for these real connections, they are out there you just have to find it. I sincerely wish everyone a lovely day.

Small Acts, Post #9

Hey everyone! As, I think, everyone could have guessed at some point I would talk about random acts of kindness. Well that time is now! We all understand how random acts of kindness are good and make others feel good as well as yourself, but the question is more of how often do we do them? We should all be striving to do good deeds for others of course. However, how often do we actually seek out people to help? That help doesn’t always have to be monetary. Sometimes the biggest help comes from just lifting someone’s spirits.

This past week I hadn’t been having the greatest time. Life and other situations just seemed to keep piling up, but when my friends took me out to eat and go shopping that changed. We started off by having a nice lunch where we joked and chatted about life. Then it was off to our first store. There we met a really nice lady who was kind enough to give some fashion advice and really get my spirits up. My friends also had me trying on different outfits and joking around when they didn’t work at all. We also hit another store where me and one of the two friends got to give the third friend different outfits to try on. It was great being able to help him find new outfits, and give him ridiculous things to try on. I can’t thank them enough for always knowing what to do to make me feel better.

These are the kinds of things that we don’t normally associate with random acts of kindness. To tell you the truth it wasn’t until they did this for me that I though of it like that. These simple acts we nothing more to me than what anyone would do, but it is so much more than that when you are the one on the receiving end. Its truly amazing how such small seemingly insignificant acts can change an entire day around. This isn’t hard. It may be difficult at first to spot the people who aren’t having a good day, but the more we pay attention to people the faster and easier it will be. We can all also try to be more aware of when we do make someone’s day better. Give yourself some credit for taking action and that will help remind you to do it again.

Well I hope you all get to go and make someone’s day soon. I sincerely wish everyone a lovely day.

Stories, Post #8

This week in positive people watching I was able to have a great time with some amazing people. I don’t often get to see a few of my friends from church, given we all go to college and they can’t always come home, so it was special to be able to see them again.

We were able to catch up on a lot while we talked but mainly we heard about a friend that Mandy had met at college. She met a guy named Jacob. He is a compulsive liar Which made for great stories. Jacob has a bit of a limp, so when Mandy’s family met him he told them he had got into a farm accident as a child. They were so sorry for him. All he had to say was “Nah, I’m just kidding”. We heard many other stories about him, but my personal favorite was his advice on how to get a date.

 Near where their dorms are there is a place to get smoothies and one is named the very berry single smoothie. Jacob suggested that a good way to get a date would be to buy one of those smoothies and then select a target. Upon approaching your target, you must through the smoothie to the floor and loudly proclaim “Not anymore!”. Then you can proceed to make out with them and that is his advice on how to start going out with someone.

We all had so many more stories that were amazing to be part of. I really think that sharing stories and experiences is the fastest way to connect and learn. Even though I have never met Jacob I feel like I know him. Also the stories connected us friends. We were able to talk about common issues and experiences. We were able to learn from each other. If stories continued for just one reason I would hope it would be for sharing knowledge.

Just over the summer I met a lady at a wedding. She was in her 60s and we got talking on life experiences. She told me of many life lessons she had learned and the conclusions she had come to. By the end of our conversation I found out that she had many of the same beliefs that I did, but hers were more fleshed out and firm. It was a great experience to talk to someone who felt the same as me but with many more years of experience on her.

Well with that I hope you all take the time to share and hear some new stories. I sincerely wish you all a lovely day!