Real Conversations

My heart continues to be broken by the division and hate I see around the world. All you have to do is turn on the TV, social media or just walk out the door. That does not mean I am giving up.

This is not an old man, letting out my long complaint. But I do remember a time, not so long ago, that you could sit down and have a respectful conversation, while  disagreeing on a subject. You might not change their mind and they may not change yours, but you walked away still being friends or family. That has changed the past few years. These days, families and friendships are being split apart because of a difference of opinions. No longer can you share an opinion on social media and not expect to be attacked by someone because they have a different opinion. Seriously? What can we do to stop all of this craziness?

We could stop having conversations with people in which we disagree. We could leave social media or just post photos of cute animals. I do like those post. We could keep our opinions to ourselves. I do not like any of those suggestions. Oh, please keep the cute animal post coming, though.

How about this wild idea? We start respecting others’ opinions, even if we disagree. We can stop having rude interactions, back and forth, on social media. Instead, we actually meet in person and have a respectful conversation, listening to each other. We can actually explain our opinions, in person, instead of posting on social media, ricking it being taken out of context. Let’s have a real conversation, in person. What a novel idea.

Can we stop all this division by sitting down and talking face to face? Probably not, but it is a start. We will never get anything accomplished by yelling at each other on social media. Plus you are not restricted to a 140-character conversation, in person. ~OC