When flipping through channels on the television we hardly ever become emotionally involved to the point we feel discouraged.

We don’t say to ourselves:

• Hey look, she always has a bright and shiny demeanor. Why can’t I be more like that?
• She doesn’t side with my political or religious views. I might as well unfollow her now.
• Well, I must be doing something wrong because I cannot make the type of money she says we all can. I am such a loser.
• My life is so in the pits, everyone seems to have cute animals and a ton of time on their hands.

The reality is, our culture has adopted a new lifestyle – social media. Have you met many people recently that have not mentioned Facebook? The preacher includes Facebook  in his sermons, the teacher mentions Facebook in class, and the new friend asks, “Where are you on Facebook?” They seldom ask, “Are you on Facebook?”

Reality check…is now the time?

Facebook does not define who you are.

It is entirely too easy to compare ourselves to others in the social media setting. It is way too easy to generalize. Do you really care, to the point of affecting your day, if your neighbor in the apartment or house next door loves or hates the latest Supreme Court ruling? Then, why do we find it so difficult to breeze on by on Facebook?

We need to soak in the reality that our news feeds are not the complete picture of life. Bits and pieces from our daily posts are thrown into the Facebook sieve. Then the big bowl shakes, rattles and  rolls; leaving huge chunks in the filter, while the tiniest fragments of life have through the filter – hardly noticed as they drifted away.  We don’t see the fine-grained remnants because they are not popular, yet, if we captured and sprinkled them on, we know they would add value to our day.

Facebook is a tool – we stay in touch, we sell our wares, we meet new clients, we learn about our world. How do we make sure we are all on the same page, the page with the bold-faced words Facebook does not define who you are? Now is the time?