Perception & Impressions

Lately Facebook has me thinking of perceptions and impressions.  How conscious should we be of people's perceptions and impressions of us?

First of all, let me say that fake people frustrate me.  People who say one thing and live another.

However, there are some opinions that are not for "general consumption" either.  Some things are just T.M.I.  Some comments/statuses need to be run through a "spirit-check" before you hit "send".  Perceptions of your typed words are often skewed by the lack of visual confirmation.  That is to say: you can say something in a face-to-face conversation and the humor is conveyed by your facial expressions/body mannerisms.  But when you type it, none of those things are visible.  And while some of your friends may know you well enough to 'picture' the humor/meaning behind the words, not everyone may catch it.  Or when you comment on someone else's page, THEIR friends may not even know you and certainly might not understand the context of your words.

I'm preaching to myself here.  Just a little something that has been on my mind recently.  Thank you, Facebook, for reminding me of the responsibility of my words.  Not just on a social networking level, but in all of my correspondence. And indeed, in my conversations and interaction with other people.  What are my words saying?  Am I sowing seeds of encouragement?  Am I sowing seeds of peace?  Am I sowing seeds of joy?  Am I building up with my words?  Or tearing down.

That train of thought leads me right to Matthew 12:34: "...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

But that's a whole 'nuther blog.

Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in YOUR sight!