C&C: Social Approval

This week's question is:  "How Important is Social Approval to You?"  I felt like this was the perfect week to get started on the C&C posts again. Kalyn is always so faithful to read my blog, and I love reading through everyone's C&C posts, but this one in particular is something that I have been dealing with lately.  You can read here about my Facebook rant.  Before you do that, I should share this... I have read through several of these posts, and many of them begin with "I'd love to say that I don't care, but I do!" I'm so glad that we are being honest about that because I believe that it's human nature for us to care about what others think. However, we also have to draw a line when it comes to other {or social} approval.  In high school, I had many friends whom I still love dearly to this day. I had some whom I haven't seen since we graduated, and I have some that I dread seeing since we graduated. As awful as that may sound, I feel like it is my fault. I allowed those people to "sway my opinion" about things and ultimately brainwash me about things as well.  With that being said, there were many things that I stood firm about - and most all of them were the things in life that really matter. Yes, I have made decisions that I would chalk up as mistakes now, but I have also stood firm in beliefs of mine when others did not.  Do I think differently of them now?  Can/Would I judge them for choosing something other than what I have chosen?  Absolutely not.  I believe that a ton of bad decisions stem from social approval. It's so easy to get lost in what others are doing, saying, and posting online that we loose sight of the person that we, as individuals, are and how we are raised, but most importantly the way that we should really be acting. I was the class president from the time I was a freshman in high school until I graduated, and while I made some silly mistakes in high school, I usually tried my best to set a good example for others.  My daddy has always told me that you may FEEL a certain way, and you may BE a certain way, but the way that you show yourself to others is ultimately how they view you. If you mess up once, their opinion of you has been made. I am aware that not everyone may have a wonderful opinion of me. I'm sure that I've hurt feelings or disappointed people along the way, but I have learned within the last two years that the people who stand beside you throughout your mistakes and bad decisions are the ones who have loved you all along. They are the ones who can't be swayed by popular belief, and I believe that they should be commended for that.  Social networking is one of our most powerful platforms nowadays. We have the world at our fingertips, and we are free to say and post anything we want.  Unless it is for the good, why say it? I'm not innocent in having a rant on Twitter every now and then, but I choose not to discuss many things that are controversial and could point back negatively towards me. What I'm saying is, since we all have some sort of social media that we maintain, why not use it for the good? Post fun, encouraging, funny, inspirational, interesting things - but don't flood your new feeds with negativity, and in that same aspect - free yourselves of those who do.  I promise that you will feel better about it.