It was September 2017. I was preparing for the next exam held on October. So I disconnected myself from all kinds of social media handles and I was seriously studying all the day. Meanwhile, a doubt was risen, and I had to discuss it with a friend of mine. He was not in my WhatsApp friend list so I thought of logging in to one social media profile of mine and asked him. But, when I logged in, I saw some messages in my inbox. Just to check who were the senders, I was giving a quick glance at them. Among them all, one message grabbed my attention:

“Hi Swarnali! It’s been long we have talked. I need your help in something. Could you please reply me back ASAP?”

It was from a childhood friend of mine. I was shocked to read the short message. What was he talking about? I was reluctant to continue the chat but I really don’t know why I did the thing I was never supposed to do at that time.
I gave him my WhatsApp number and asked him to ping me there. Now, I have realized:

Destiny was planning something else for me. It was a U-turn of my life’s journey.

He pinged me later at evening and asked me that if I am ready to help him out. I told him to wait for two weeks and then, after my exam was over, we started a journey together.
It was ‘Blogging’.

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So, this is my story of starting a new journey towards the field of Blogging. It all started with a short message on social media. And eventually, after some months, I started my own blog and stepped in to the world of blogging. Today, I am a proud blogger of two blogs: One Lifestyle blog and one Motivational blog.
My blogging journey started with a short message on social media. I could have not replied to him, I could have not seen the message though. I could have not told him to connect with me over WhatsApp and stopped the chat there. But instead, I was curious to know what was the ‘purpose’ behind the reason he was asking my help. The message was quite intriguing.
But, just think a while, the ‘purpose’ could be something else, too. He might have asked me for a date, or proposed me for a relationship, or tried to talk about something I might not like to talk about. He might have asked me for helping him out in his personal projects, he could have discussed his personal problems with me, or financial crisis, or something else. He could have asked me anything. It could be something absolutely irrelevant to my life, my opinion. It could have hampered my concentration, or pushed me into a world of stress and anxiety. And then, I could have indulged myself into some idiotic activities and eventually, ended up falling into depression.

In this crazy world, all the scenarios I wrote here, could have happened to me.
Or it could happen to another girl, or another boy. Anyone, and every one.

Social media is a lucrative world and it’s easy to fall trapped in the web of virtual world. The only way to keep yourself away from this is to be smart while using it. Be smart to choose the person you interact, be it a stranger or even with your known ones over the virtual world of social media. Use it for your own betterment and to spread goodness all over.
Here is my way to use social media with an intellectual way:
Connect. Communicate. Contemplate.

Social media is a helpful tool to spread the message we want to convey to the world. But, it’s also a world where we befriend with strangers. So, it’s always good to be aware of the circle you are choosing to enter. Connect to contact with people, Communicate to learn and grow. At last, Contemplate to keep yourself calm from within and detached from the outer world to connect with the inner world. Here is my way to handle the virtual world:

Connect:

In today’s world it’s not easy to keep contact with every known person of your circle. So, it’s absolutely okay to keep in touch with them using the social media handles. Even, you can connect to other people from your community through the medium of social media. It’s fine. Nothing to be worried about in this step. But it’s always good to choose people carefully. You may have lots of people surrounding you with a request to befriend you. You may know them or some people may be strangers among them. It’s up to you whom you want to add to your circle and whom you want to discard. If you think it would be great to connect with the person, connect. But, if a little confusion arise and you don’t feel to welcome the person to your world, simply ignore. Connect with people carefully, as this step is the preliminary step to entering into the virtual world and extending your circle. Here comes the next step, Communicate.

Communicate:

Communication is always good. But, dear friend, I want to tell you something. Never allow someone else to control your life, or your moods and emotions. You are the designer of your own life, the creator of your own destiny. Communication through social media is very helpful, as I have realized it. You get to know many people, you learn from your seniors, you can ask or discuss with them for clearing your doubts. Communication helps you to learn, to grow.
But, here I want to share a slice of my heart. Last year, I was bitterly hurt by a friend of mine who accused me for not clearing an entrance examination. At first, it was hard for me to accept the fact that he used harsh words for me. I thought of sharing my emotions with him as he was going through the same like me. But, instead of feeling the same, he behaved rude. It was a bitter experience for me as it was completely unexpected from a friend like him. But later, I realized that people will tell you whatever they want, it’s up to you that you want to receive it or simply discard it.
Communication is the phase where you get to know a large number of people. But it’s also important to keep yourself a little bit of isolated. Be inspired by the good people and try to learn from their life stories, execute the message they want to spread across the world. Communicate, but don’t let the outer world control your life, your choice, your moods and emotions.
It’s your life. Be yourself. And for making it clear, let’s talk about the third step i.e. Contemplate.

Contemplate:

This is the most important step to maintain a balanced lifestyle despite using the social media. In a day, there are lots of things that take place in our lives. We use social media to connect with people, then we communicate for learning and sharing. Thus we grow and come to know a lots of things about life. But, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with this phenomenon. So, you need to have a solitary moment to escape from the web of this virtual world and for spending some quality time with your friends, family or yourself. And here comes the Contemplate step to work on.

If you maintain a journal and keep making notes about your learnings, it would be easier to observe. Give time for connecting and communicating with the outer world, but do give yourself the time to think about your life, your progress, your to do list, your priority of works.

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Everything has its pros and cons. It’s up to you that how you use it for a noble purpose and a good cause. Living in today’s world, social media has become an inevitable part of our lives. It’s better to use it with an intellectual way and working wisely.

So, according to my opinion, the best way to handle the virtual world and using the social media is first you connect with people, then communicate with your circle, and at the end of the day, contemplate for finding the peace within. 

Connect, Communicate, and Contemplate.

 

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This post was a part of a Blogging campaign and there I liked another post that shared the same emotions like me. Have a look here.

https://www.auraofthoughts.com/2017/04/quest-for-connectivity.html

As I have discovered this way to deal with social media boom, I found a brilliant post from the block. The post is written by Urvashi and she has discovered a new way to say Thank You and being grateful. Don’t miss this post, it’s a must read for all. Have a look here:

The Three Gratitude Bubble technique – My Happiness Tool