Friday, September 09, 2011

In Real Life...

IRL.

Most people who aren't bloggers don't know what that means.  I propose that even bloggers forget what it really means.

When you read someone's blog long enough you think you know them.  But what you really see online is such a tiny portion of real life.

How many times do we think that "if only my house were clean like hers is", "if only my children would just sit still for a cute photo", "if only my husband had a job like that so we didn't have to worry about money", "if only... if only..."

But we really don't know the real life story.  We don't know the way she hates that her husband has to travel for that job.  We don't know the way her children love to pose for the camera, but hardly listen to anything else she says.  We don't know that she has an illness that means she can't clean her house and has a maid service, when she wishes she could do it herself.

There are so many back stories that are never told.  So much real life that goes on between the lines.  It's so easy to assume that you know someone...

But how well do you know the friend you meet every week unless she tells you what's going on?  Would you really want to trade places with another without knowing the whole story?  Is it even possible to know the whole of someone else's story?

Real life is messy.  It's hard.  Everyone has their own life to live.

And each life has it's own blessings.  Hidden maybe, but there if you're willing to look for them.

Where are your blessings hiding this week?


This is a post prompt from The Gypsy Mama. Join in?

5 comments:

  1. Very good points! I've always tried to think about what someone might be going through when they are nasty to me in line or something like that - but you are so right in that what we read online is just that part of someone that they have chosen to share with us - who knows what's going on the rest of the time. Very insightful!

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  2. Isn't it funny that we assume everyone else has it together?
    Your points really hit home, and I especially love the one about the kids posing for photos, but ignoring everything else the mom says.

    There is an old saying: Pay attention to what we want to grow.
    Your reminder about each of our lives having blessings fits right into that, and I will make sure to pay more attention to mine.

    Thanks for the thought provoking post.

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  3. Anonymous7:39 AM

    Nice comment to end on. To make us thinking.. it is easy to forgot those hidden blessings. Thanks for the reminder

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  4. Anonymous7:51 AM

    Good comments, Krista! So true! And life is so much easier if we rejoice IN our circumstances and look for the blessings around us. Grandma

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  5. I need to practise this. Every moment of every day. Thank you!

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