It’s one of those messages that I wish I had saved instead of immediately deleting. It wasn’t my first message from an Internet Troll and it definitely won’t be my last. I should have saved it to remind me that haters are going to hate but instead of bringing me down it, it will push me to do better.
If you follow me on social media, you know that I often post about going to the gym, trying to eat healthy and trying to lose weight. And you would also know that I’ve fallen off the wagon more times than not, gained weight and eaten unhealthy.
And I know that people probably wonder why I even bother posting, if I am constantly going to fail. The internet trolls have asked me that on more than one occasion. And it was one particular comment just recently that made me really think about why I post and why everyone needs to ignore these type of people.
It was a day I had posted in my stories about going to the gym in the morning and then another story about indulging in snacks and a few drinks with friends. I was enjoying life. The next day, I was checking in on Instagram and there was a message request. Obviously a message from someone who didn’t follow me but wanted to send me a message. We all know that 9 times out of 10, those messages are usually some sort of spam.
My curiosity got the best of me and I opened the message. The long and short of the message was they couldn’t understand why I talk about a healthy lifestyle and then turn around have a night of eating and drinking crap. I should stop posting and give up. No one wanted to hear it.
This was someone I didn’t know, I didn’t follow and they didn’t follow me. They must have found me via a hashtag that I had used on my posts. At this point it made think about a lot of things about this person and myself.
At first it made me think about my posts. In one thought, I agreed with him calling me out on my shit (pardon my language). I try to be healthier and I fall off the wagon. And a lot of times, I fall hard. Sometimes it is more of a 1 step forward 2 steps back instead of the other way around. BUT, eventually I brush myself off and start again. And at one point, hopefully it’s only continual steps forward.
The reason I post about my life and my successes and failures is that is what my blog is all about. My life and the journey. Keeping it real. Maybe it reminds people that we all are human and everything isn’t always perfect and we all have our struggles. Even if one person reads it and it makes them smile or feel better about their own life, then my job her is done. I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do. I know that others have done the same for me. Reading blogs of others on similar journeys have helped me tremendously.
I’m not going to lie, those unkind comments stung a bit. It wasn’t the first time someone had reminded me of my failures. I know I need to try harder some days. Absolutely, no questions asked. But when it comes from someone I don’t know, I’ve never met (or ever want to) it is a different kind of hurt.
And this is not a oh boo hoo, poor me type of post. Having an open social media profile opens me up to anyone seeing my posts and commenting as they please and I’ve accepted that. I’ve see other bloggers have way nastier and hurtful comments flung at them on almost a daily basis. And we all know that there are people out there that aren’t the kind and sincere person their social media profile leads everyone to believe.
But then I thought about the person that sent the comments. If they didn’t follow me, then they had to have intentionally sought out my profile and others like mine by searching through countless hashtags. What I can’t understand is why? Why do people or these Internet Trolls feel the need to search out others just to bring them down?
I was brought up with “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate constructive criticism but people being down right insulting for no reason other than to make themselves feel better, is not acceptable. If you feel that bringing others down makes you feel better, you aren’t the type of person my content is aimed at. There are a million other blogs, and social media profiles out there that I am sure you can find something out there that interest you and you enjoy instead of criticizing others.
It’s a conversation that I’ve already had with my son on more than one occasion. He’s seen the likes of Internet Trolls when watching videos on YouTube. He’s seen the nasty comments and we’ve discussed why it needs to stop. Bringing others down just to make yourself feel better about yourself isn’t the way to go about things.
So that being said, I will continue to blog about the things I want to blog about. I will share on my social media as I see fit to share. And to those that don’t want to read it or like it, that is your prerogative. But don’t waste your time or mine with your nasty comments and messages.
cathyunfiltered.wordpress.com 
