UNEDITED: Is it possible to delete away the things you simply don't like?

I was mildly amused when I recently discovered that an old acquaintance of mine had deleted me from Facebook. Once upon a time we had a wonderful season of friendship together but staying in contact had proven to be problematic so it wasn't a huge shock when our friendship was suddenly removed with the click of a button. 

I am a bit of a minimalist and my philosophy is that if you are not physically present in my life then you are not really a 'friend'. Harsh but true. The friends that I seek are ones with authentic, genuine, friendships behind them and hopefully I get to see them face to face, from time to time as part of the friendship.

Am I asking for too much?!!!

It was only by chance that I even realized that I had been edited out of his life, when a mutual friend had said something about a post of his dog. I admit, one less 'dog' post on my Facebook news feed is greatly appreciated. As I reflected on his editing out of our 'friendship' I thought about the posts of mine he had clearly disliked in the past for all kind of reasons - reasons that will remain present in his life regardless of our Facebook 'friend' status. 

Yep, the reality is, the things that come our way which we don't like, don't automatically get omitted from life, in the same way that pressing 'unfriend' or even better 'block' can remove the odd picture or two of a dog! The canine species will still exist and will drive me nuts regardless of who may or may not be posting them on Facebook and I simply have to deal with it. 

So while perhaps a so called friendship can be deleted, yet there remains the question of whether you should try and delete things in life that you don't like. Perhaps a better way is to face the things head on?...

While a communication channel can be 'deleted' on Facebook and contact automatically ceases, that is sadly not that unusual, it happens all the time - even with genuine friendships communication often runs dry. However, the loss of communication in the present, cannot impact the past. For example, can memories, history, feelings, moments and experiences all be removed with the click of a button? 

Can memories, history, feelings, moments and experiences all be removed with the click of a button? 

Maybe, eventually, with time, perhaps these things could fade. However, the truth of what happened in the past is, well, it is the truth! It happened and will always be there. You cannot deny the past. As they say... the truth is always out there. You simply cannot delete the past, only perhaps make an attempt at changing the future of a friendship. 

For thousands of years people have used history to make sense of who they are now, today. This means that everyone you come across and experience, will somehow, shape or form who you are in one way or another, even if you try and delete it. It's humanity. It's life. So while in moments of anger, sadness, grief and perhaps even regret, may cause you to do something totally irrational, it cannot be denied that the past will always be simply unedited. It is what it is. It is there for all to see in its fullness. The past will remain whether you like it or not. 

....the past will always be unedited.

So to my newest 'unfriend', (who I know reads this blog) I am happy to still be your actual friend, which is far better, should you step back into my life and seek true friendship. Why? Because that's what friendship is all about... forgiveness, moving on together amid the good, the bad and even the deleting! Friendships are one of the most valuable assets in life - life is far richer with great friends.

Indeed, what is life without the people you adore?

Life is progressive and part of that is making sense of the past (including the parts that you don't like and would rather delete) and building on it for a better future. Perhaps the parts that you don't like, may not be as bad as you assume - including the ones that supposedly are weird or even lurk in the shadows of Facebook or wherever. They may appear like a shark waiting to bite and hurt you but perhaps they aren't sharks at all. Things often seem to be something they are not, especially in murky water..... especially on social media.

To be continued....