R is for Real

There are so many ‘R’ words I could have chosen today. I thought seriously about ‘rich’ and ‘random’. ‘Reaching out’ was another fine contender. And of course there was ‘respect’ but the word ‘Real’ just popped into my head.Every person reading this post is a real person. Every person who writes a blog post is a real person.
I am a real person.
I have a real family.
I have real emotions.
My life is real.
Behind the anonymity of keyboards and screens all over the world are real people – with flesh, blood and bones.
They cry. They sleep. They work. They pay bills. They laugh. They do everything that any other person does.
Yet as we read their blog posts and words each day, we forget sometimes that those words were written by real people.
It is no different on Facebook. We forget that the people we interact with on any social media platform are in fact real people.
In the past week, I have seen people hurt by the words of others.
They forget that the typed and written word does not show intonation. Others reading cannot see facial expressions or hand movements that lend power to the spoken word.
And feelings are hurt.
Because the people reading your words are real.

So each day as you sit at your keyboard and type your words, please remember that those words have power.
The words you choose can be used to heal or to hurt.
They can strike fear or provoke sympathy.
Because the readers are real people – like you.
Let’s all remember that real people have real feelings.
Let’s keep it real.