LET'S SPREAD SOME CHEER!
“And from the midst of cheerless gloom
I passed to bright unclouded day.”
―
As the winds pick up speed crashing against the windows of our apartment I find myself keeping my head down and my ears shut to the ghoulish sounds that surround me. The cyclone has arrived and darkness engulfs us.
A good time to browse through Facebook and keep in touch with your "friends " as any, I say to myself. The darkness melts away and my mood lightens as my finger scrolls through the pictures, the daily updates, the opinions, the quotes. I make it a point to like them as I go along reading, appreciating, admiring and enjoying them. Some make me glad, some make me sad, some make me scoff, and I admit some make me envious too. Many inspire and motivate me and many I see as wake up calls to do better and as the rain falls heavily on the isolated roads of a country under lockdown I feel blessed that I am safe inside my world, yet so well connected to the outside world.
So, I go about my merry way, my finger on the like button doing its daily job. Let me not mince my words when I say our worlds revolve around social media. Rare are those who are off it. I know only one...my dear husband. But then I digress.
The wind howls as it batters against the walls threatening to dash in and my mind reverberates with it. The phone chimes and it brings my attention back to it, and I concentrate, lest I miss out on "liking" and "commenting" ( with a mental note to myself - refrain from commenting on political posts and making rash comments which could hurt - it's always better not to say anything rather than saying something unkind).
I come across a beautiful post of cupcakes with the drumbeat of rain providing background score. I smile. The gloom of the black clouds drifts away as I recall a conversation. A few days ago a friend thanked me for liking her daughter's posts on Instagram regularly. "I was so chuffed," she texted me, "when my daughter pointed it out. I told her you are my classmate." I could hear her tinkling laughter in her texts.
She and her daughter were not the only ones who were pleased about it. I was too. Her texts had left me beaming from ear to ear for not only had they noticed the fact, they had then taken out time to thank me. It put a smile on my face because I was able to put one on someone else's.
One like can make someone's day, can't it? And if it's a young talented girl who is starting out as an entrepreneur it becomes even more important.
On a personal level too who doesn't like the likes. As humans we seek approval constantly and when we get it, it gives us a high. We post pictures, our opinions, positive thoughts (sometimes negative) and a lot more hoping our "friends" will be generous with their likes and comments.
We are social beings who seek positive affirmations all the time and mostly our efforts are rewarded. But then sometimes they are not.
I offended a friend by not responding to her comment on my post some months ago and she texted me that she had felt insulted. I apologised and told her it had been an oversight. I had missed out on replying to her comment. I really had.
I completely understood where she was coming from though. I would have felt insulted too.
I learned a lesson that day. A like and a comment only takes a minute of my time but that same like and comment can mean the world to a "friend" especially when that "friend" makes the effort to read, see and like and comment on your posts regularly. The number of likes on our posts may not define us but being generous with them certainly says a lot about us.
Just another way to spread cheer and love not only in these trying times but every single day. At least that's how I see it.
As I went searching for meaningful quotes on the topic I found an article which resonated with my thoughts.
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