WOTY - adversity

Word Origin and History for adversity

n.

c.1200, aduersite "misfortune, hardship, difficulty," from Old Frenchaversité "adversity, calamity, misfortune; hostility, wickedness, malice"(Modern French adversité), from Latin adversitatem (nominativeadversitas) "opposition," from adversus (see adverse ).

Ok, so I will be the first one to admit that "adversity" is a strange word to pick, not the normal uplifting vibe that most want for their word, but for me it fits. I'm a kind of a glass half full kinda gal who doesn't try to let myself get down in the dumps when faced with a challenge or a "bump in the road"...sure, adversity, it happens to all of us but it's how we react to those circumstances that controls who we are.

Now if I could just overcome writing in a straight line, sheesh, I'm even using a straight edge and I manage to still be crooked. lol 

"Our culture has gotten too mean and too rough “ Melania Trump

Are we redeemable, can we save ourselves?

When choosing my word for 2017 I choose the word "adversity"

Has the internet, one of the greatest inventions in the 21st century slowly destroyed our humanity? Or maybe it's being "too" politically correct that is eating away at our ability to show kindness to each other when under duress?

And up until the election I had not given it a whole lot of thought but now I have seen a whole new side to people that just scares me, and it doesn't really matter who you voted for, this is not what I'm talking about. It's how you choose to act that just makes me wonder...what has happened to our civility? 

In my 10 years, give or take a few that I have been on the internet, in particular, FaceBook, I have NEVER unfollowed as many people as I have in the last 6 months. Mind you, I did not unfriend them...but unfollowed them. I understand that people cannot have the same opinion on one subject because though we are all equal by our common humanity, we are also different by our individuality. But does the fact that we differ on the same issue give those who disagree, the right to insult and abuse?

So I put it out there, can you bite your tongue and count to 10 before you post something mean or hateful? Can you take a moment to think...is there a better way to handle this? Am I being productive or fruitless in my behavior? 

Maybe the best policy of...

If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all

could be altered to

If you can't say it constructively then you need to rethink your method.