3 Ways Social Media Teaches Us About Forgiveness

The word forgiveness means different things to different people. For me, forgiveness is a huge part of maintaining a happy life. I once heard someone say that if we withhold forgiveness, it’s like allowing a snake to bite us over and over again. It’s such a heavy burden to hold onto any negative thought patterns.

Practicing the art of letting go and releasing opens the door for more love to enter into our lives. All the money in the world cannot buy peace; however, one way to start achieving peace is through forgiveness. To me, forgiveness does not mean we have to force ourselves to forget what happened or that what happened is suddenly okay.

It simply means that we have made the decision to move forward without harboring bad feelings about it. Trying to force ourselves to forget something won’t work, as you’ve probably noticed. It just brings it to the surface more frequently. Instead of trying to forget it, we can just allow it to move peacefully through our heart. We can recognize it without letting it become who we are. In other words, we can let go and forgive. Ironically, when we forgive, we are giving a gift to ourselves.

I’ve noticed recently that social media teaches us a lot about forgiveness. There are really countless examples of this, but I’ve included my three personal favorites here. I hope you enjoy these!

1. Facebook

People who know me know that I’m a Twitterholic, and I can barely even remember to log into Facebook. However, I have been on that site enough to pick up on a trend that I see happen often.

Consider this… How many times have you either connected with or had someone try to connect with you who is from your past? Many times, right? Has that person ever been someone who instantly made your shoulders hurt and your heart beat fast because just seeing his or her name brings back a bad memory? Maybe that person was someone who bullied you when you were in high school, or maybe it’s an ex-boyfriend who treated you wrong.

This happened to me once. My initial reaction was to ignore that person’s friend request. Somewhere deep down I suppose I was still holding a grudge. After a few weeks, I decided I was being silly, and I accepted that person as a Facebook friend. Strangely, the moment I clicked that button, I felt all the icky feelings go away. Suddenly none of that mattered anymore. I wonder if that person felt the same sense of release when noticing that I accepted the request. I never thought I’d be writing about how Facebook can help the forgiving process, but now I know it can.

2. Twitter

I remember when I wrote 10 Lessons I’ve Learned On Twitter back in 2009. It was an emotional article to write. There is a sentence in there that reads, “If you want to be filled with joy, forgive everyone for everything.” I remember when I typed that it felt so good. There are two ways that Twitter teaches me about forgiveness.

First, we all know that if you want to develop into a leader on Twitter, rule number one is that you do not engage in a public smackdown with someone in your Twitter stream. You will lose your credibility in about ten seconds. Let me share something with you. I wrote a post called 10 Reasons Not To Block Someone On Twitter. It went viral, which I’m grateful for; however, each time that article gets tweeted, it seems like it drags the Internet trolls out from their caves. I get horrible tweets from people (when I say horrible, I mean really bad stuff) who think it’s a challenge to try to get me to block them.

At first, these used to make me cry and feel terrible. Since I refuse to engage these people online, I have learned over time to just ignore them (and yes, in some extreme cases I’ve had to block them). It was hard at first, but now looking back, I realize that it was my own personal lesson in forgiveness. I don’t even notice that stuff anymore. I see it, it moves through me, and I move on. That’s it.

The second way Twitter teaches me about forgiveness is through the tweets of those I follow. People who I refer to as thought leaders like @Iconic88, @LoriMoreno and @Lotay provide quotes and thought provoking conversations about topics like forgiveness and love often. You might be surprised what you can learn from just watching your Twitter stream.

3. Blogging

I think blogging is underestimated as a very effective way to help in any form of healing. For example, this isn’t a personal blog obviously; however, the articles I write, if you read them in order, are like a personal diary in a way. Each day I write from the heart, and it has helped me in my own personal development. Yes, it makes me vulnerable. Yes, some people slam me and are rude. However, those people won’t change who I am or what my purpose is.

The point is, don’t be afraid to open up when you blog. Simply telling the stories of your life, through your blog, can help you forgive. I’ve written probably a dozen articles here on Bit Rebels that reference my father’s death. Those have helped me tremendously when it comes to forgiveness and moving on.

Don’t get so caught up in your head about writing the right way that you forget to include your heart. Trust me, your readers want to know what you are all about. When you open up, it will also open the door for them to respond in a comment. Then you respond back. It’s how you build relationships with your readers. Try it!

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” ~Robert Muller

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