I’m going to be honest and say that this post was planned to be something completely different.
I wanted this to be about my stand against abortion. I had my thoughts carefully planned out and I even emailed a woman I know who had an abortion, asking her to give me her account of what happened so I had a first person perspective on why I believe it’s wrong.
While I started typing this, however, a thought came to mind. It was an odd, random, eye-opening thought.
If I die, how will people remember me? Will they remember me as the girl who loved? Will they remember me making a positive impact on their lives in some way? Or will they remember me as the girl who always posted something political and tore down other people’s beliefs.
Anyone who knows me knows I can get mouthy and spew off opinions when it comes to political, moral, and economical values. Need examples, look at a couple of my blog posts. But, is that the way I want to be remembered?
I’m a pretty impulsive person and because of that Twitter has become my worst enemy. It’s a bear trap for people, such as myself, who get heated over something they don’t agree with then begin typing away (in 150 characters or less) every single case and point about why they don’t agree. It’s the devils playground. I’ve had arguments that are now completely irrelevant and hurt people that I cared about. Social media was designed for impulsive people who type faster than they think and sometimes end up regretting it. An important life lesson, “Think before you type."
What people would never know about me from reading my blog posts, or social media posts in general, is the excessive amount of love I have for every person. Every illegal, WIC-scamming, transgender, pro-choice, person. I care for them all. But, you wouldn’t know that, would you?
For a while, my motto in life was, “leave it better than you found it,” which applies to everything, including people. After impulsively going off on my political tangents, did I leave everything better than I found it? Were moods lightened? Were minds opened? Were people better off after reading my posts? If the answer is no, then I have done humanity and myself a great disservice.
Well, just today I posted something on Facebook about abortion (where my original idea came from) and I felt icky after a couple of hours of comments back and forth. What did I benefit from posting it? What did others benefit from me posting it? Nothing. Neither party changed their ideals and both parties ended the conversation abruptly. While I believe it is important to voice your opinion and take a stand, nothing it more important than the mental and emotional well being of others.
People will always say, “What other people think about you isn’t important,” but it is! Perception is everything. Based on what I post online, people more than likely perceive me as being completely different than I really am and that ideal is something that I have complete control over. Generally, it is fully up to you what people think of you. Are you nice? Are you sarcastic? Are you funny? You have control over how people perceive you and your actions.
It’s not easy to look inward and see all the faults you have. It’s a humbling experience, but it is also a learning experience. Seeing what you need to work on for yourself is the first step to becoming a better person. Realizing how hateful and demeaning I sound on the internet is embarrassing and shameful. Especially since I know I’m not. I encourage each person to be honest with themselves and really reflect on how they act towards other people. Being right during every political debate is not worth hurting someone over. Presidents and platforms don’t last, people do.
How those people will remember you will be your life story, your legacy. Will they remember you standing up for them when no one else would? Will they remember you loving on them when everyone else deserted them? Will they remember you being there as a shoulder to cry on when everyone else was judging them? Or, will they remember you as writing really good blog posts on politics and moral values?
What you say, what you post, and who you are, are the qualities that people will remember you by, are you living the legacy you want?
