I always start my blog by saying I am a realistic pollyanna. So this consists of two parts. One I am someone who always looks at the bright side of things. I always hope for the best. I know that many times things will work out for the better if only we give it a little effort. I know that when we have a positive attitude, more things are possible if we only try.
But I am a realist as well. Things just don't happen because we want them to happen. No we have to work, and sometimes put in a lot of effort in order for things to come true. Also being realistic means that I have to use the facts that I know rather than just wishes and dreams. If the facts are against me, no matter how hard I dream, it's not going to happen. Simple as that.
That's why Facebook posts like one I saw recently drive me absolutely insane. This particular post says that 2016 is a special year and that because there are 4 Sundays, 4 Mondays, 4 Tuesdays, 4 Wednesdays, 4 Thursdays, 4 Fridays and 4 Saturdays another one won't happen for another 823 years. Wow that sounds really special. Until you look at the actually facts. Every February has at the bare minimum 4 Sundays, 4 Mondays, 4 Tuesdays, 4 Wednesdays, 4 Thursdays, 4 Fridays, 4 Saturdays. The only exception is when there is a leap year. This year February has 5 Mondays. Also the idea that this year won't be repeated again until 2839 is false. 2839 will have no leap year for instance. And the calendar (with a few minor deviations given the fact not every 4th year is a leap year- 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200 are not leap years but 2000 was a leap year) re-occurs in 28 year cycles. So 2016's calendar is exactly like 1960's, 1988's, 2044's, and 2072's calendar. The idea that this calendar won't happen again for 823 years is just wrong. But the gullible seeing this post and not thinking about it, will re-post it over and over again. It is just junk thinking which pollutes our newsfeed.
Junk. There is a lot of junk out there. Even though the city streets are kept relatively clean, there is junk on them. We all have our junk closets with those things that we should have thrown away years ago. My email, even though I have a junk email folder which is supposed to get rid of unwanted emails, still is filled with unwanted offers. And how often do we lose something, only to find that it is not lost, just surrounded by junk? How often do we miss the forest for the trees? How often do we miss the wheat, because of all the chaff around it?
Maybe we need to de-clutter in our lives. Moving continents four months ago, I know I had to get rid of many things that I had kept as "treasures" for a long time. And you know what I found- I didn't really miss them at all. These treasures were not needed. These treasures were my chaff. And maybe the same thing needs to be true of our postings on social media. Some are very important. Some have significance. But many are just junk. That's the way I think now anyways. Maybe I will think differently in 823 years. Blessings.
