Thursday, March 26, 2015

Another good one to send forward...

Remember Monica Lewinsky? What a mess her life became, all because, at 22 years of age, she fell in love with her boss, who happened to be the President of the United States. (Who didn't fall in love with the wrong person at age 22? I'm thinking of Charlie, ten years older than me, the kind of guy who would never grow up...) I'll admit I didn't give much of a thought to what Monica's life was like because of the mistake she made at age 22, but she has to think about it every day. (I mostly forget about Charlie, thank heavens.)

In this powerful video below, Monica talks about how the internet and our society have created a culture of humiliation and shame that devastates too many lives. It's too easy to make anonymous judgments, and too many of us jump to nasty conclusions that we air online. We forget the old piece of wisdom that we heard as children, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

Negativity only breeds more negativity, shame, and humiliation, but every living being on this earth deserves compassion, regardless of her or his mistakes. Monica says it well, and I admire her for standing up and saying it, especially given her past hurts, which had to be huge.

The thing is, we are all part of the solution. The next time I run into negative comments, I'm going to throw in a positive one if I can. Thanks, Charleen, for sharing another good one, one that I'm sending forward as definitely worth watching. Enjoy!


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