The election is over and Jared will be the new mayor come January. This experience has brought up several unique situations that I have never encountered before. I have never been bullied online or had a member of my family bullied online. Now I know what that is like and the conclusion I have come to is much the same as it was when I was in elementary school. With guidance from my wise mother, I was taught that bullies act that way because they don't like themselves. I believe her. As an adult, it is a bit more complicated than that, but not much more. Increasingly I understand why a MOM and a DAD that love each other (or at least politely tolerate each other) and who love their children is vital to a well functioning adulthood for their children. It can not be over emphasized enough. Damaged children grow up to be damaged adults and man baby tantrums cause much more damage. I wouldn't go hang out in the bathroom at school if I knew that is where the bullies were. Same goes for sitting behind a computer screen in my home.
My generation is in another unique situation in that our parents can offer very little specifics as to raising children in a digital world. Our parents could go to their parents for wisdom in most parenting situations. Online situations are a whole new ball of wax and my generation is flying blind in a lot of cases. I am so thankful to have the knowledge that the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers. I am thankful to have the opportunity to have the Holy Ghost. I am thankful for a Mom and a Dad who loved me and loved each other. They taught me that I was going to leave their home with some baggage. It's inevitable. The defining moment was when they taught me that I always had a choice. I could put the baggage down and do what my Savior taught or I could pack that baggage around and try to heave it at other people for the rest of my life. That goes for everyone no matter what a given childhood was like. Were they perfect? Nope. But they were just right for me. They taught me timeless principles that are principles of success no matter what technology brings. I am so thankful for my Mom and Dad.
I've also discovered that you can never really hide your true intentions. If you are serving for the sake of serving and doing it for the sake of doing the right thing, you don't have to remind people about it. Self-aggrandizement has become so common place in this Facebook/Twitter/YouTube world that we now live in but it still leaves a bad taste. There is something in the natural man that is fed by posting our "awesomeness" and watching as the "likes" tally up. It's a fine line between genuinely sharing something positive and saying, "Check me out." It comes down to where our heart is and it's not something that can be hidden for very long. It's something that I have to do a "heart check" on frequently. It's painful when the diagnosis comes back as: needy, grasping and desperate for validation. Ouch.
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