The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Do you remember sitting in a chat room, watching people chat, or even chatting yourself? Do you remember receiving so many forwards that your mailbox was ready to explode? How about receiving an e-mail from someone just searching for a friend. Did you wonder who these people might be that are behind the keyboard?
Online we meet new people from all around the world. Some we chat with just once and then we go on. Others we chat with time and time again, and a friendship is made. Others become our e-mail buddies, and we look forward to their e-mails each day, but have you ever really wondered who was really behind the keyboard?
So often we meet a friend in chat we stay up all night chatting,sometimes we laugh so hard we cannot type, other times we cry and our keyboards are stained from tears. We chat about our lives and help solve each others'problems, we lend a shoulder if we can. Did you ever think to yourself, who is really behind that keyboard?
Did you ever chat with someone that promised you the world and that your friendship will be forever, and then they are gone? Do you forget about them and move on, or do you wonder "who was that person really, that was behind the keyboard?"
Have you ever hid behind your keyboard, pretending to be something you are not, just to boost your ego? As you sat there and typed have you ever lied, thinking "who cares, the person behind the keyboard, it is only a fake person?" Did you ever hurt someone thinking "it's only a game"?
Well, behind each and every keyboard are very real people, some might be heartless cold people, not caring who they hurt, but then there are people that are caring, loyal, honest and all kinds of people hoping for some companionship online.
Behind the keyboard can be someone who is seriously depressed and their only hope is to make a friend, maybe an aging person who once had a family, but now they live too far apart to see one another, perhaps there is someone that cannot walk anymore or a person so ill they are in the house forever.
As we enter the world of the internet we should remember, it is a very real world and behind each and every keyboard is a person who has a heart. No one has a life that is pain free, so as we go online whether in chat or just e-mailing, we must remember to treat each person the way the we want to be treated, to respect each others' feelings, and to offer friendship, because the truth is we really do not know who is behind the keyboard or what kind of hurt someone may be feeling. To be the best to others that you can be should be the "key" to a good, honest life.
-Author Unknown-
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Let your light shine in the darkness. "I can't just bring my mind to meetings...I must also bring my heart."
Ever since I first entered the world of chat rooms, which began for me with MIP's chatroom, I have always felt such a connection to the people who come in there. Maybe this is unique as it is an Al-anon chatroom, I don't know. But I can say that I have found the names on the screen to be very real people. And I have gone on to meet several people in person that I first made contact with online. I can say without a doubt that we are all very real and that we need to remember that we are chatting with real people and treat them accordingly. With kindness, love and respect.
That's a great post. The majority of the people I have met have been wonderful. It's a great reminder that we must be respectful of each other and their points of view. After all it isn't a machine that is doing the typing. Thanks.
Live strong, Karilynn
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It's your life. Take no prisoners. You will have it your way.
Thanks for that post. I too have only "chatted" here and have always had a positive experience. I know many people that that is not true for many. That speaks volumes to me about the people here on MIP.
