There's a whole lot of negativity out there. All you have to do is flip on a TV, turn on a laptop, go down to the local coffee shop, or any number of things.
One day, it just really started to get to me. I was scrolling through my facebook newsfeed and was just seeing negative post after negative post, many having to do with one political party trashing on another one. Then I wondered something:
What if we took one day where we didn't post anything negative about other people or an ideology?
Then I thought to myself, why stop at a day or political bashing? What about a week or month and what about posting absolutely nothing negative at all on this thing we call social media?
So here is what I'm proposing. We take the entire month of May to focus on the good, promote something versus tearing something else down, and overall be more positive.
Once upon a time, I tried to say nothing negative for one entire week. I. Failed. Miserably. However, what's interesting about social media is that it takes at least a few seconds (or at least it should) to tweet or post something. This makes it easier for us to be intentional about it.
Why the month of May you might ask? Well, during April, most final projects or just finals (for students) are coming due, so asking them not to vent might cause emotional implosion - probably shouldn't...but it might. June and July are getting hotter and we all know how much we like to complain about it being hot outside. Also, it's building up to independence day and so there will likely be alot of patriotic folks who want to show their colors and do a bunch of 'Merica posts (not that liking the U.S. is inherently bad, but it definitely leads to trashing other things). And finally, May provides us with the chance for some really cool pun hashtags like #MayYourDayBeMerryAndBright. And we all know that everybody loves a good Christmas reference.
I like hashtags when they are used to link tweets or posts to a common idea, and there are plenty that can be used. #SpeakLife is a great one brought to us by TobyMac, #BuildUp could be some sort of allusion to Ephesians 4:29 (which could also be hashtagged as #Ephesians429 or simply #Eph429 [you have to start with letters, #429 doesn't work]).
There's a time and place to be critical of something that is wrong and call it out. I believe this can be done in a healthy way. However, I also know that I tend to gravitate towards this instead of promoting something good or building up.
So, if you are on board, make a commitment to not post anything negative during the month of May. Hold off on the "funny to you" political posts that tear the other side down, save the posts about the annoyances in your life or the things that make you angry, and simply post things that build up and encourage other people. Share this blog to pass the idea around and starting in May, start hashtagging your uplifting posts with #MayYourDayBeMerryAndBright and whatever else you might come up with.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." - Ephesians 4:29
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