I wasn't born a cynic, it was a painful lesson I learned from my childhood. It's taken me almost 7 decades to unlearn.

In less than 15 minutes this morning I experienced two sketchy Internet encounters. The first was when George posted a chart comparing the stress levels of European countries. No link was included, Ukraine was missing, but Turkey was included. I quickly discovered the source to be a CBD Products company. I imagine the pitch was, “Feeling stressed? Buy a gummy.”

A brief review of George’s LinkedIn profile and his posts revealed a different story, he leads with his heart. I’m so grateful I didn’t add a comment with my first impressions. Instead my comment included the link to the company while I agreed with George about the level of stress in Europe and across the globe and laughed it off with the rest of the commenters.

My second encounter was when Debbie contacted me through LinkedIn’s messaging system. The line, “I really love your profile and would love to connect and keep in touch.” was anything but engaging. After all, I hadn’t received a notification of her profile visit. However, a brief visit to her profile revealed her one year work anniversary and efforts as a volunteer.

I replied to her message with congratulations on the anniversary and her efforts to alleviate poverty. I hit send safe in the knowledge we would be connecting and I’d never hear from her again. I’m embarrassed to admit I was quite full of myself for putting her in her place. Then I returned to my notifications only to discover my digital faux pas.

Debbie had discovered me through a comment I’d posted. In the name of expediency she had used a generic template, while I had used my sense of righteousness in reply.

In, Why I Give “Like” a Big Thumbs Down I make the case for replacing Likes with Comments. I guess I could have gone further to include the personal responsibility it requires:

• I forgot that posting a comment invites a conversation that includes listening to understand, not only to reply.
• I forgot that, “Assuming a Positive intent” is essential for growth.
• I forgot to read Charles Swindoll’s essay on Attitude this morning as I have done for 29 years, even though it’s stapled next to the medicine cabinet.

“I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes”

- Charles Swindoll

*With apologies to Stephen M.R. Covey, Bestselling author of,
The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything