This article stems from my thoughts on Kansas City Chiefs QB Brady Quinn’s take on the Jovan Belcher tragedy.
The Kanas City Chief’s quarterback Brady Quinn said some great things in his post-game press conference last Sunday regarding the Jovan Belcher tragedy.
“We live in a society of social networks, Twitter pages, Facebook… we have contact with work associates, family and friends, but it seems like half the time we are more preoccupied with our phones and other things instead of the relationships we have going on in front of us. Hopefully people can learn from this and try to figure out if someone is battling something deeper on the inside than what they may be revealing on a day to day basis”.
Quinn is exactly right. Although I am mindful this is a very extreme case, it’s reasons like this that lately I am trying to focus less on my social media pages in an effort to focus more on the friends and family that are actually close to me in my life, as opposed to the masses of “friends” we are connected to via Facebook, Twitter, etc.
If you don’t live by all your closest friends and family, then give them a call, have a conversation! Merely “Liking” someone’s Instagram photos or Facebook status IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE for “keeping in touch”! Although I do believe such social outlets are very entertaining and beneficial in many ways, merely posting updates and photos of where you’re at, what you’re doing, what you ate for lunch, and where you had #SundayFunday is not always a substitute for keeping your friends and family actually informed of your current well-being (or not)!
If you do live close to these people, I would encourage you to meet and interact with them, talk, listen, and embrace the benefits of face to face communication; because you never know when that privilege could be taken away.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Chief’s organization and the families effected by the tragedy this weekend.
Stephen Mariucci 