The Dangers of Social Networking

God's spirit is all about you all day long. You have no thoughts, no plans, no impulses and no emotions that He does not know about. You can hide nothing from Him. Do not make your conduct conform only to that of the world and do not depend on the approval or disapproval of others. God sees in secret, but He rewards openly. If you are in harmony with the Divine Spirit, doing your best to live the way you believe God wants you to live, you will be at peace.

This thought sort of addresses something I posted late last night. I was feeling angry and perhaps bitter about some of the profiles I saw by "friends" on Facebook. That's the danger of social networking. It's so easy to take things personally. It can rob you of your serenity.

Sure. Not many of these NOLA people are real friends. I can't blame them for living their lives though. Even if it's without me. I can always meet new, more emotionally well-adjusted folks. Hell. I already have.

I took that post down because I don't want to express myself through anger.

On a positive note... I got to talk to one of my mentors in recovery today. I'll see ya in June, JW!

Goodnight.

Charity and Facebook

Hasn't been too long since I posted last. Just this afternoon actually. Here's the meditation from 24 Hours a Day. Then I'll share about it...

"If I have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." Charity means to care enough about other people to really want to do something for them. A smile, a word of encouragement, a word of love, goes winged on its way, simple though it may seem, while the mighty words of an orator fall on deaf ears. Use up the odd moments of your day in trying to do some little thing to cheer up another person. Boredom comes from thinking too much about yourself.

We've all heard in the program, "You can't keep it if you don't give it away." That's not a sound enough motive to be charitable of course, but it is very true.

Boredom doesn't grip me like it used to because I keep so busy. I work, do alot of AA related stuff and write. I'm coming to a point, though, where I need to start making time for the everyday things too. I have to be very careful to find a good balance between work, recovery, relationships, and leisure. Some of those can be intermixed of course... And charity. I pray every night to be put in situations where I can help other people. Whether it's on the street or organizing a food drive for Second Harvest. The smallest things can make the biggest difference in someone's life. Sometimes just a simple smile.

Tonight's men's group was good. Found out something sad though. I knew that there was someone missing when I came back. We don't always ask because it is an anonymous program and not everyone wants you to know. He was mentioned tonight so I went ahead and inquired as to where he was. It ends up he passed away a couple of years ago. Now I didn't know him that well, he was just one of those people you like seeing around. I can tell that he is greatly missed.

Ok. Facebook. I've been either forgetting or subconsciously evading the subject. A while back I posted that I would be staying away from it for a while. Well. I did... for a couple of days. I saw that the outpouring of support was still there and I appreciate it more than anyone could know. I said to myself, "You use FB for something better now." It would've felt like I was turning my back on that. So I returned. Still don't do a heck of a lot on there, but I do love seeing all the wonderful things folks have to say. And I learn from those things too.