Young in Faith by Kiri Groeneveld
IF there is one thing my generation can claim for certain, it’s the influx of online slang – the tech abbreviations.
Because of Gen Y, we live in a world where people actually say BRB, as in bee-are-bee, instead of “I’ll be right back”.
I have friends who use LOL. This means laugh out loud.
They actually say the word LOL rather than, you know, laughing out loud.
Personally, I don’t use this language.
Okay, I rarely use this language – I am still Gen Y after all.
But there is one terminology I can say with absolute confidence I have never and will never use – FML.
For the sake of maintaining decency in this column I will replace the “F” part with the word “Fluffy” – Fluffy My Life.
This abbreviation usually accompanies complaints on social media – a post on Tumblr, a status on Facebook, a latest Tweet.
For example: “The dentist says I need another filling. Fluffy my life.”
“My roommate’s alarm keeps going off and waking me up on my day off, fluffy my life.”
“Forgot my lunch and the work canteen is closed. And the aircon broke. Fluffy my life”.
The absolute worst one I ever saw was this: “Just heard on the radio there is a fatal car crash on the motorway. So I’m stuck in traffic for the next two hours. Fluffy my life.”
You just heard someone has died and your reaction is to whinge how their death makes your life so bad.
Yeah, that’s fair.
Not only do I think this slang is a complete over-reaction to whatever is actually happening at that time, but the way in which young people use it so regularly disgusts me.
Every time I read or hear it, I feel like explaining to them all the reasons why their life is so blessed and how they really don’t deserve the right to condemn it to be “fluffed”.
I would like to try and encourage BYL – “Bless Your Life”.
Not only do you have the means to maintain good oral hygiene, but you can afford a dentist to fix any pain you may have. BYL.
It’s your day off, which means you have a job to have days off from. BYL.
You’re hungry and you’re hot.
Two sensations you rarely get to feel, ever, compared to the millions who feel it daily. BYL.
And I’m sure you, Leader readers, can all join me in telling that complaining driver on the motorway, “You have your life when someone just lost theirs. BYL.”
Recently in The Catholic Leader, Archbishop Mark Coleridge contributed a Lenten Examination of Conscience based on the words of Pope Francis.
I would like to repeat some of the questions the Archbishop posed to us.
“Do I pursue pleasure, as if the accumulation of pleasures will compensate for a lack of joy?”
“Do I make excuses for what I have done and what I have failed to do?”
“Am I constantly complaining – about other people, about the Church, about society as a whole?”
“Am I unhappy because I expect too much?”
These questions and the Archbishop’s piece as a whole, I found both challenging and enlightening.
I have never and will never claim to be a perfect Catholic.
I don’t believe there is such a thing – although I’m sure a few popes and saints have gotten pretty close. But I do try.
This Lent I considered at length what it is that gets in my way on a daily basis to be a better Christian – complaining.
I am someone who gets annoyed easily and can hold on to past grievances.
To make myself feel better I will vent to trusted people who are silly enough to lend an ear for a split second.
I don’t like negativity, but I allow it to fester through these actions.
I may not use terrible online slang, but I will whinge just as bad out loud.
It’s easy to do as there are so many others around me doing it too.
But that does not make it okay.
Perhaps I wouldn’t feel the need to complain so often if I was able to be at peace with my situations and surroundings.
So this Lent, not only am I trying to give up verbally complaining, I am also attempting to find peace on a daily basis.
It’s harder than I was expecting, and, yes, I have already slipped.
But I am conscious of and remind myself how blessed my life is.
You can follow Kiri on Twitter and Instagram @KiriGroeneveld
