'Facebooking' has become a way of life

Facebook is a funny tool.
Linking long lost family and friends, the social networking site has become a favorite primarily for those in the 18- to 35-year-old demographic — of which yours truly is a proud member.
Through the site, members are able to tell virtually everything that is going on in their lives, regardless of whether it is a simple change of status or the uploading of pictures.
Being able to browse the pages of my some 400+ friends (it used to be much longer) offers the unique opportunity to be a part of their lives from a distance, something our forefathers probably didn't believe would happen until the year 3039, if not at all.
On some occasions, my wife will come and tell me of one of our fellow Winthrop alumni furthering their education, getting a new job, buying their first home or starting a family. Good news is always pleasant to the ears.
As great and helpful as this search engine can be, it can create problems that each of us encounter during a certain point every day.
Unknowingly, each of us open the door to the wondering minds of our "Facebook friends" through the items we put on our pages.
I know you're wondering why I'm still a member of the social networking site even though it exposes my business to the rest of the world. My answer: we're all humans ... we all deserve at least one good addiction.
Daily us "Facebookies" will often place little blurbs about what we're doing, where we're going or what was great the night or week before. This particular status may be of great significance to one person, but to another it could be used as a way to question one's direction in life.
Often during a visit to Rock Hill, a friend will mention a name and on many occasions the conversation will revert back to Facebook.
"It's been a long time since I saw them, but I checked their Facebook page a few days ago," a friend might say. "I don't know who they are with, but what he/she has on their page is a hot mess."
Sometimes when these particular moments happen, I wish their mother would do like mine used to and say, "Mind your own business, keep your mind on what you have going on."
Kids, all of us say it but it's the truth — parents are always right.
As valuable a tool as Facebook is, it reveals the human need to express opinions — good or bad — as well as feed into our nosey instinct of wanting to know everything going on in someone else's lives.
If that is what we are trying to do, what do you think others are doing? I hear flash bulbs popping everywhere.
That's right: the same thing.
There is a reason why we're told to mind our business. Mostly because in the end there is only one life that is controlled by me, myself and I — my own.
Trying to pry our way into why others do things a different way than someone else somewhat shows where our priorities lie, and it's definitely not focused on our own well-being.
It's a fact that all of us have to come to grips with — people will only tell as much as they want you to know, and in the end it is up to to you to decide which path to go with after that. Unfortunately, our perceptions are wrought without them being able to plead their case.
For example, a resume goes into great detail about where you have been in life and what you have accomplished. On this one to two page document, it also includes a few important people that may have made some sort of impact on your life.
However, not every nook and cranny of your existence is found on your resume. Think I'm lying? Ask most professionals if their college GPA (grade point average) is included with the document.
Getting back on task, when you get to an interview, employers often use the resume as a basis of conversation. If or when they decide to ask questions about issues not listed on the resume is up to them, and you still have the right not to volunteer the information.
At least at that point you are able to face up to the questions on your own.
Life is too petty to keep trying in vain to break someone else down. It's already a job for all of us to make it through today and advance to the next, why do we try to make everyone else's business our own?
Adopting a personal policy that places the focus on correcting our own problems and deficiencies takes away the time we have to look at the shortcomings of others. And if you happen to look at those problems, commend them with an encouraging word and an optimism that uplifts them to do better rather than a scathing message again dragging them through the dirt.
It seems in life we're so tied up in matters not our own that we don't get the chance to audit our own hearts. By doing so, some of the stresses of life may brush off your shoulders a little easier.