I love feeling inspired!  I’m sure we all do.

It feels good! It’s all  warm and tingly and exciting, and makes you feel like you can do  anything and everything (all at once)!
It kind of sounds like a mind altering chemical when I put it that way, but I suppose it is altering your brain chemistry to make you feel that way.

I find that warm, tingly exciting serotonin and dopamine enhancing inspiration everywhere; nature, music, books, my friends, my husband and most often from the internet, especially from facebook!

That’s right, facebook.

I know social media has been argued to be the downfall of modern society, but I love it! I love the chance to interact with people I may not see all the time, heck- even with people I’ve never met before. Every time I log on to facebook, my stream is full of inspiring images, quotes and status updates like the picture below. Reading these messages makes me  feel uplifted and renewed.

It certainly wasn’t always like this. I remember when my news feed was full of people bitching and complaining about something or another, with some positive posts and groups intertwined with people I can only categorize as whiners. Then, a couple of years ago I posted a status update about a long work day I had (13.75 hours, no break, actively serving the whole time). A friend tried to turn it into a pissing contest by talking about all the long ass shifts they often pulled. They were actively trying to diminish and dismiss my experience.  I asked them to stop trying to make it a competition and I acknowledged that both were challenging in different ways. I was trying to respectfully shut down an argument, but the reply I received was basically “Too Bad, because  life wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows and I couldn’t direct all conversations to a more positive, supportive tone because life doesn’t work that way.”

I thought, “Challenge accepted!” and unfriended this person immediately.

My wall. My rules.

I want my time on facebook to be stress free, fun, inspiring, uplifting and educational.

I don’t mind being challenged, I don’t mind debating. I crave intellectually stimulating conversation that stays respectful. There’s no need to be argumentative and rude, demeaning or dismissive of another person’s experience. I want all my interactions to be positive, compassionate and mindful.

I also don’t want to be confronted with constant negativity. I’ve only unfriended that one person, but there are plenty of people I have hidden because of constant negativity. All  your status updates don’t have to be positive. We all need support from our friends when we are down, or when shit happens, but if you only ever have bad things to say, I don’t want to hear it. I’m sorry, I send you my love, and wish nothing but the best for you, but don’t need you dragging me down. Oprah, a pinnacle of positivity once said:

Surround yourself with people who are going to lift you higher.

I think that’s fantastic advice.

I spend a lot of time on facebook, and I want my experience to lift me up, to fill me with love, hope and excitement about what’s going on in the world because that’s the energy I want to share with the world! I want to lift others up.  Seeing constant inspiration gives me the energy to be inspiring and put that light and love back out into the world.

There are two ways of spreading light. One is to be the candle and one is to be the mirror that reflects it. -Edith Warton

This is an image of a single candle surrounded by mirrors! Amazing. I think personally, I want to be a disco ball candle; burning brightly myself, but also reflecting back the light of others in every direction.