“One Of Them”…Sort Of

It happened just before 8:00 am this morning. I did it. I finally did it. I had become “one of them”. Perhaps it would help if I explained just what “one of them” is. In July I wrote a blog titled, Another Addiction. That column dealt with people’s fascination with facebook, particularly those obsessed with updating their status with the specific details of their lives. Prior to today, I never felt the compulsion to do so. Until this morning.

Yes indeed, today I had “become one of them”…sort of.

I say sort of because I chose not to bore all those on facebook with the exact type of status update that annoys me the most, the “I am going to workout” status update.

A few examples to illustrate this variety:

• Lenny is up and going to the gym and hit the weights.

• Mike was on the elliptical at Cardinal Fitness this morning,

• Ralph is up and at the gym getting in a much-needed workout!

I can understand updating your facebook status to let others know that you are going to be out of town or that little Johnny or Mary won their game. That’s fine, I understand that. Those make sense. You are letting others know something that might actually matter to them.

Telling facebook nation that you are going to the gym serves one purpose and one purpose only. It strokes your ego. At best, it’s a self-affirmation. But most likely, you are just letting everyone know that you are doing something good for yourself.

So this morning, after I did something good for myself, I decided that I would do it. I would become “one of them” and write a facebook status update to let everyone know that I had done something beneficial for myself. I fired up the MacBook, went to facebook and entered the following status update:

Paul Vagnoni prayed and said the Rosary with dad this morning. Great way to start the day.

After you finish rolling your eyes, please let me explain. Like I said earlier, I had now become “one of them”…sort of. People have no problem blowing their own horn about doing something to improve their physical well-being. But let them even mention something about praying or spirituality and they are a zealot or a bible thumper.

I am afraid that I will never fall into the category of those going to work out. And in a way that is unfortunate, because God only knows I wish that I had the basis to make such a boast. Not that I would, but I don’t.

With that in mind, I do have the ability to do something that is rewarding for another part of my being. That is to pray, care about others and make God a part of my life.

I don’t mean to preach, because I am sure that it turns you off as much as it does me. But for heaven’s sake (pun intended), I pray that all of you have some sort of spirituality in your lives. It doesn’t matter whether you are Catholic, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Muslim or non-denominational, it’s vital to have God in in some shape or form in your life. Personally, I can’t go to sleep at night wondering “what if?”.

Okay, I will now step down from my makeshift pulpit. Without a doubt, Survivor Samoa will be the topic for my next column. However, I had to get this off my considerable chest. After all, this morning I became “one of them”. Until next time…from the booth.