Conflicted at Times

 With my thoughts and subsequent desires to share those opinions, I often experience a clash between my personal needs of expression and my fears of adding fuel to the current social-fires of divisiveness. Perhaps like many of you reading these words, I have hundreds of Facebook friends. Most of those friends are much younger and so many look differently than do I. I am fortunate to have great diversity in my life. I relish and thrive in said diversity.

Many of my Facebook friends share similar feelings and beliefs but many also worship differently or not at all, embrace different likes and advance opposing political views...Personally, I love it; as I suggested 'diversity makes my world go round.' So you might ask, where's you personal conflict, Mel? And if you didn't think to ask, I'll take liberties to explain anyway...

Many times when I post my blog, people respond. Some respond expressing agreement while others react with varying degrees of disagreement even disdain. I should state that I never seek one response or the other. I am not particularly thrilled when folks agree with me and I do not take offense when people express anger towards me and what I may have stated. Please understand that I was an athlete who competed in the public arena and I coached high school basketball for thirty-nine years in communities that expected winning. I don't live on 'hoorahs' and likewise the critic never moved my needle.

So what's the conflicted issue within? You've likely already guessed. Often times, my blog creates discourse between folks who are my Facebook 'friends' and too many times those interactions become ugly full blown personal attacks. I ask myself; Mel, have you done a good thing this day with your blog or did you add fuel to our current discombobulated divisive society? And therein lies my personal conflict.

I'm not a complicated person. I have opinions based on my personal experiences, early childhood nurturing and formal education. Although silence 'can' be golden, I truly believe that all people are morally responsible to speak to and oppose that which they think is hurtful to brothers and sisters in this journey. When one seeks to do good but creates bad, one can and should 'feel conflicted.'
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My World