To Share Or Not To Share

Sadness. Loss. Heartache.


We all experience them. This world is an imperfect place. They are our reliable companions as we travel through life.


Yet I feel like I (and many of you) really hesitate to ever share about them. We post on our blogs about interesting trips we went on and write witty status updates on Facebook, but when that thunderstorm or even the light sprinkle happens, we shut those windows tightly so no one can see or hear what's really going on inside the house.


By nature I am a private person. I dislike unsolicited advice and many times when you share your heart, that can be what comes back by way of a reaction to the crisis. And understandably. No one wants to hear of tragedy without trying to assist or fix it in some way. It means we care. We want to help.


But what if there is no physical, tangible way to help? Does that mean it would be better not to share at all for fear of getting "helped" anyway?


When difficulty strikes I find myself staring at the computer screen thinking that this is the time that I actually have the most to say, but I don't want to write it.


So I usually don't post at all or I think of something lighthearted instead. It's too scary to send one's feelings out into the great, wide Internet cosmos for all to see.


I admire friends like Ashleigh who seems to have the gift of sharing her hurt in a beautiful, open way that makes one ponder values and responses to difficulties. My thoughts are always jumbled and would likely result in disoriented sentences across the page.


But it makes me sad. The Ashleighs of the world are so few and the Bonnys of the world are so many. We just smile and babble on of only happy things.


Would it be better if we shared or would we just feel frustrated by unneeded comments?


Or would it help others to know that they are not alone in this thing called life or the trials that plague it?


I read a caption once, "If only my life were as perfect as I pretend it is on Facebook."


But no one's is.


Would it be more beneficial all around if we just admitted it (not complaining, just acknowledging)? 
Or would that still just be depressing? Would it make us one of those people who we delete from our newsfeeds because we can't stand their negative posts and avoid calls from because we don't want to hang out?


What if there is clearly a lesson learned that could be shared? What if someone unknown really needed to hear that lesson?


Would I still be too reserved scared to share it?