When I was a child, we didn't have the internet at our disposal (yes, I am THAT old!!!). Thank God! The pre-teen and teen years contained enough angst as it was without having to worry about how many cyber-friends we had accumulated, or who had or hadn't liked our latest Facebook post.
Back then, if we weren't seeing friends every day, we either drifted apart or stayed in touch via the telephone or snail mail. Pen pals were a big thing, and there was always that moment of excitement when the latest letter dropped through the door. The letters were always lovingly written, giving great details of what had gone on in the writer's life since the last correspondence. It was a private missive, full of personal details, and showed a degree of care for the person receiving the letter. I recall that I would sometimes take several days compiling my 3 or 4 page letters to my pen pal. It was quite an act of dedication for an 8 to 10 yr old! When I was a child, up high on my bedroom wall was a small picture frame. The picture was of a small sailing boat in a sunset. But the picture wasn't the focus of the frame. There were words on that picture. Somebody cares... Somebody cares what a world of woe Lifts from our hearts when we really do know That somebody really and truly cares And that we are in somebody's thoughts and prayers And I want you to know And I feel that you do That somebody always is caring for you. Despite being all grown up with a child of my own now, I still remember those words. Caring... There is no greater wealth than the love and care of those who support us. And yet it seems to be a concept that is almost getting lost in the cyber-world that most of us now inhabit. It is all too easy to press 'like' on a Facebook post, and to tell all and sundry what we are up to on a day-to-day basis, without even breaking the stride of our day-to-day lives. Instead of increasing the opportunities to connect and make a difference in people's lives, the world of 'social networking' has almost disconnected us. If we allow it to, it has far more ability to strip us of our confidence, and remove our social interactions, than it does of building us up and reinforcing our support networks. When I was a child, my favourite holiday-time television programme was a show called 'Why Don't You...?'. Its theme tune sang something along the lines of: Why don't you...? Why don't you...? Why don't you... just switch off your television set and go out and do something less boring instead? So my friends, my challenge for you today is for you to make a special effort to switch off the 'television set' ... or computer, laptop, tablet, phone etc. Go out and connect with someone you maybe haven't connected with for a while. Show someone you care. Drop them a text, write them a personal email, compose a snail-mail, call them up on the telephone, meet them for coffee, give them a hug, reach out and touch someone's arm... Be human! You never know what a difference it can make to someone. It may enrich a good day, brighten a sad day, or be the glimmer of light at the end of a very long tunnel for someone. Go on... spread that wealth!
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