Read this before you make another post. Seriously.

The Internet is a great place. You can post anything you want almost everywhere. But that doesn’t mean you have to post EVERYTHING.

You need to think the poor souls who have to read these posts.

There’s gotta be some kind of etiquette/ censorship.

Here are some real examples that, to be honest, are best avoided.

Stop posting pictures of your positive pregnancy test on Facebook.You’re pregnant. And I couldn’t be happier for you. Honestly. But come on. You pissed on this thing. If your friends were there in person would you emerge triumphant from the bathroom and wave it in their faces?  And if it is ok to post things we’ve peed on I have a lovely photograph of a dark alley….

Internet fights are almost always below the belt. Breathe, Take a step back. Arguing with people on your Facebook wall is about as classy as a Jeremy Kyle show. No one wants to see that shit. Close the laptop go outside. Smile at the nearest stranger. You’ll feel better.

Stop trying so hard to convince everyone you’re perfect. You know those daily positive update statuses about how you are choosing to be happy. And you love your job. And you love your spouse. And you have a dog. And you couldn’t be happier. Even your clothes are the hippest ever! Yeah.

In reality you’re one post away from FREAKING OUT. And that’s ok. So instead of posting bullshit, ask for help. I want you to be happy. Truly happy.

You don’t need a life hack for everything. The other day I saw a thing on Pinterest for making baked potatoes in the crockpot. It was “Just put the potatoes in the crockpot in the morning, let them cook for 8 hours, and voila! Baked potatoes!” You know what else works? BAKING THE FUCKING POTATO FOR TEN MINUTES.

You don’t have to research everything. Because by the time you’ve read about baking the potato you could already be eating it! This obviously extends way beyond potatoes. They are just an example (did I need to say that?)

Sometimes, we don’t care. So you woke up. Had cereal for breakfast. The commute took five minutes longer than usual. You walked up the two floors to your office. Didn’t take the lift. Went home. Watched an amazing episode of EastEnders. Then went to bed.  With your laptop evidently. That’s really great. You are living a life. Much the same everyone else.

You don’t need to tell everyone about it. All the time.

Get your own email address/Facebook account/Twitter handle. I understand. You’re in love. You have become one.  But if I get another email form mikenandjane@email.com   I will do what I always do. Smile. Shake my head. And delete it.

If you want to be taken seriously as an individual. BE AN INDIVIDUAL.  It’s a good starting point.

You’re making yourself look bad. There’s being you and being yourself.  There’s a difference between being cool and open. And sharing the photo of how you found a mouse nest in the bomb site that used to be your house until you had kids.  Take a step back.  You don’t need to post that. Really you don’t.

You don’t have to check in everywhere. “X is on the way to Heathrow” “X is nearly at Heathrow” “X is in Heathrow”, “X is waiting in Heathrow” I fucking get it. You are going on holiday. I don’t need a run down on exactly where you are every minute of the day.  And especially if you’re not even going anywhere exotic “X is standing in line at the supermarket” is not, let’s be honest, the most interesting of posts.

Got it? Cool. Now where is that interesting photo of the burger I ate yesterday? I’m sure everyone would like to see it….

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exciting isn’t it.

Some home truths

There are some universal truths you can rely on:  If a car drives past with its window open and music playing very loudly, it will be shit music, there’s always an unexpected item in the bagging area and your computer’s out of date.

But they don’t matter. Courtesy of the wonderful Helen Brencher these are the home truths that matter

1) Life is a steep, uphill battle but it’s fierce & it’s beautiful & you’ll be sad to see it go if you live it right.

2) New people won’t stop coming into your life and opportunities won’t stop knocking on the door but you need to have the space for them.

3) You should resolve to be awesome for the rest of your life. Right now. Do it.

4) Goals are not a January 1st kind of thing. Set them weekly. Set them monthly. Set them so that you are moving forward and always trying to progress. Life can grow stagnant without them… beware.

5) Confidence is a sexy thing. Guys dig it. Girls dig it. We all dig it.

6) Your spirit will never benefit from shallow people. You got to cut the toxic out of your life.

7) And if you make mean comments, and you talk about people behind their back without ever trying to love them or see where they are coming from, you might be the toxic one.  I’m not trying to burn you, just trying to say that relationships are too valuable to muddy them up with what you perceive to be the shortcomings of someone else.

8) I’ll drive the point home: gossip is shallow and stupid. Hobbies are better. Social good is best

9) Here’s the truth: you are going to waste a lot of hours focusing on who you are not, or who you want to secretly be. But you won’t ever wake up and actually be that person. You’ve got to embrace what you bring to the table. If you don’t like what that is, have the courage to change it.

10) The world does not revolve around us. Turns out that we are just little points of punctuation in a much bigger story glittered with periods & commas & dashes. How are you helping that story to be better? How are you being the best dang point of punctuation that you can be?

11) If you want to run a serious business, if you want people to take you seriously, then start your engine and sign out some library books. Business books are proof that God loves us

12) No matter how tech savvy we get, there is a need to say things to a person’s face. Please, for the love of lovelier things, have the courage to call someone up and verbalize your thoughts or meet for a coffee. Breaking a heart is hard stuff, stopping a relationship is never fun, but there will never be anything as loud as this statement: You are worth my words. You are worth my presence. You are worth, and will always be worth, more than just letters on a screen and a broken heart jammed in the crooks of an overflowing inbox. Face to face connections are fading faster, please don’t let them get away…

13) First impressions are important. Really.

14) No matter what kind of interview you are gearing up for, there are certain standards you should always hold yourself to: wearing something other than jeans, not talking out your phone during the interview, sending a handwritten note afterwards. An interview means you want something but it doesn’t mean they have to give it to you.

15) Regret is a real thing. It’s going to happen. It’s going to come clomp-clomp-clomping into your life at some point. Don’t hold onto things forever but learn from them and let the past go. The past will be a dictator if you let her.

16) Facebook is a tricky thing. This is an invitation to step back and ask yourself, should I really post that? In the days of diaries, we never had to worry about this. Now all that we say is a microphone so be very, very careful.

17) The victim song is never going to fit you. It will never be good enough for your lungs. It will never be good enough for your time. You are stronger than you know and more graceful than you know. Don’t let the parts of you that want to be a victim live on any longer. You’ve got a voice… you’ve got a story… Do us all a favour and use it. Without any apologies. Without any stepping back

Great thanks to Helen.  And:

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