Time flies, they say, when you are having fun. Well, seems to me the older you get the faster time seems to fly whether you are having fun or not!

Live is always fun though. So many good things are happening all around us and sometimes we don’t stop to be thankful for them. Yes, I’m on a thankful kick this new year. I’m eternally grateful for all God has done for me and this paper as well.

If you stop and watch the news, it becomes frustrating so I’ve come down on my news diet, especially from any mainstream media.

I’ve also managed to cut down on my diet of social media. Unfortunately, it’s an unnecessary evil in the business world, but on weekends I’ve started taking a hiatus. You never realize how addicted you are to social media or your phone until you do without it.

Can’t tell you how many times I picked up the phone and put it back down after reminding myself I was on a diet from it. I do not dare think about all the wasted time we spend on social media.  Think of all the things you put off doing because you are on your phone.

Besides if you spend too much time you will find yourself wondering if there are any good people left in the world and I assure you there are.

People have lost civility however. They become volatile if you post something with which they disagree. If you post something political, they want to fact check you.

Once upon a time I could have gotten into a fact-check war with them, but I refuse to do that as I respect people more than that and myself as well. For every fact check you find that supports what you may have posted in the political realm, there is one which states it is not true. Therefore, I don’t trust any of them anymore.

If I don’t agree with something, I keep scrolling and that’s what everyone should do. If you want to take someone to task about something send them a personal message, call them or go see them and have an I agree to disagree discussion. But don’t publicly take them to task.

Yes, this is hard to do, it’s something I have to pray about constantly and sometimes I just bite my lip to remind myself. Yes, there are things which sometimes are so ridiculously stupid I try to bring reason and present truth, but even those times are becoming fewer for me because of people’s reactions. If you are my friend, we should be able to agree to disagree and keep on enjoying each other as friends. That’s not the case with a lot of people though.

The only thing I will fight to the death for is Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Everything else pales in comparison.

I once had a professor who worked for me writing and we would have great debates. Sometimes he would take the opposite stand from me just so that we could discuss it fully. It was all in fun and neither of us ever became angry. In fact, most of the time, we laughed afterward. Since I was on the debate team in high school, I enjoyed those discussion and find myself missing them more and more. Those type of discussions challenge you and feed your brain and can actually expand your horizons at times. 

We need to go back to being a civil people who can actually talk to each other and have discussions without getting anger. I’m certainly doing my part in that area. Try it, you might like it.

VICTORIA SIMMONS Is a columnist, author, motivational speaker, minister and publisher of The Georgia Post/Byron Buzz. Contact her at: vsimmons54@gmail.com