Facebook Addiction?

Facebook has been out there for a few years now and millions of people have signed up and began sharing snippets of their life with many many people. Well, at the continued "encouragement" of my friends, I have finally signed in. I anticipate the mockery of my coworkers soon. I will say this, I finally understand the hype. However just like a hammer or a shotgun, it is a tool that can be used for creativity and enrichment, or it can be destructive and painful.

I must admit that as I get near my forth decade, I have become a little nostalgic. I signed into another service a long time ago, but they were very limited with their willingness to allow you to speak to your old classmates without collecting a subscription fee. With Facebook, I've rediscovered many old friends, and rivals, from my high school days. Some with whom I was never very close, while others I maintained a deep fondness for in my youth, that was somehow eliminated when I graduated. Some of us went to college, some of us joined the military, some of us went to work and some of us just went. But now, many of us are back together again because of Facebook.

Like many of us who are honest with ourselves, I have a past filled with stupidity and regret. There are a few people I was terribly mean to, and some who were viciously mean toward me, but after 22 years, it seems that none of us care much anymore. We've all gone on to have children, fall in love, get divorced, go bald, grey, or even get into better shape. Why did I expect any different? Well, when you are a kid, you think that you will not be just like all the other grownups you meet. But when you finally become a grownup yourself, you fall in step. Adulthood looks very similar today than it did 20 years ago. The only difference is the technology.

Grownups still go out drinking and dancing with their friends, take their kids to the park, write books, become involved in politics, and generally make the world better in the way we've each been equipped. Some by simply being parents, and some by serving as an example to others. I am on both sides of that gate. Still looking for my over riding purpose, yet knowing that I am somehow moving the gears of society, one tiny cog click at a time. Believe it or not, the world would be very different without my meager contribution. The same could be said for you.