June 3, 2013

• Just Thoughts

  First, I read Barbara’s (@blonde_apocalypse) blog, and she said something that really made me think. 

   

  “And the trolls.  Oh my goodness, the trolls.  I’m so bloody thankful for the trolls.  Xanga trolls are the reason I am able to be certain of what I need, what I can easily do without and my ability to discern which voices are worthy of my attention and which are not.  Xanga trolls taught me how truly, absolutely worthless is the validation (and the condemnation) of strangers, and that truth has made me free.  What a priceless blessing that is.”

   

   

  I had never looked at it this way. Even though many of those voices were never “worthy of my attention”, far too many times, I allowed them to piss me off. 

  Then I read @Angry_Infidel ‘s blog and that made me think also. 

   

  All these years I’ve been on Xanga, I have grown, learned and changed. Early on the trollish people would piss me off. But I’ve always pondered how people think, especially when very different from me. Admittedly, there were times when I would purposely word things in just such a way to push their buttons so I could really get to the truth of how they felt, so they could have been doing the same thing also. A few times, I changed my mind about things. But most times, I was forced to delve into why I thought what I did, and dove deep and studied hard, and came back up even more firm in my beliefs than before. It is very good to know both exactly what you believe, and exactly why you believe it ~ in detail. 

  And I have learned that any firm stance on any topic will earn you haters. But I have come to the point that, now that so many things for me have been cemented very firmly in my mind, when I am bombarded with the rage from those who disagree it has no bearing on anything at all whatsoever. I dismiss them in my mind as idiots, plain and simple. I so much prefer it when they calmly explain why they think differently. This, at least, I can understand and learn a little something from.

  And in my experience, 99.9% of the time it comes down to world view and who authority is given to, where the root of the disagreement lies. And it is fruitless to bother with the people who are on the other side of that fence. So, I am learning to knock off the dust of my feet and move on, so to speak. We won’t change each other’s minds and that’s all there is to it.

  It is also really interesting when people of very different beliefs agree with me on things. It is nice when I can be friends and learn things from them, even though we have different core beliefs. And in my experience, it has been easier for me to be friends with people who don’t believe like I do, than it seems to be for some of them to still accept me. So,  when I see that they are still willing to be my friend, knowing our differences, that is usually a very good sign.  

  It’s been a good six years here, over all. 

  • 1:24 pm
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