For most of us, when something bad happens in our lives we react by either talking about it to a loved one, keeping it bottled up inside, or going on a rampage and taking our emotions out on other people.
If these options don’t suffice I am happy to inform those who don’t already know of a new venue out there, available for anyone who may be having a particularly bad day. It’s conveniently dubbed FMylife.com, where everyday people can anonymously publish short tidbits on how messed up their life is, and where the emotionally unstable can take the time to “let it all out” (according to the site’s introduction). As far as the letter “F” is concerned, if you are new to the world of abbreviations I am happy to inform you that it stands for Fuck.
Having the opportunity to safely vent a little pent-up steam is great. However, it seems to me that concluding your entire life is fucked up when you have one horrible day is a bit drastic. The Web site is a breeding ground for the basic laws of attraction — if you feel that your life is messed up to the point where you need a curse word to describe it, then it will continue to be so; you will attract more bad things.
Why anyone would want to condone cursing their own life is beyond me.
This law of attraction business is nothing new. Parents have been teaching their children this law for centuries. If Sally Sue comes home from school and tells her mom she thinks she is dumb because she failed a science test her mother will lovingly reply: “Well honey, if you think you are dumb then you will be dumb.”
Furthermore, this school of thought has even been published in a movie and book called “The Secret,” by Rhonda Byrne. According to the book’s Web page, every person is “a magnet attracting to [themselves] all things, via the signal [they] are emitting through [their] thoughts and feelings.” The book follows an ancient philosophy that promotes the power of positive thinking and spirituality to attract the things you want in life.
I therefore surmise that if FMyLife account subscriber SallySue123 curses her life because of one science test, she will continue to believe that she is dumb and internally feel that she cannot do well in science, causing her next test to be just as bad. Perhaps Sally should use the failure as a wake up call and study her butt off to do better in the future. The ability of Sally to do well on her next test comes not from her textbook, but from within. That internal confidence begins with her believing she can do it.
Not to get all preachy, but the most concrete example of the laws of attraction I can think of can be found right in the Bible under Proverbs 23:7: “As a man thinketh, so is he.”
I am not promoting that everyone should abandon FMyLife.com and join their local church, but there is an alternative way of thinking that has been out there way before people started intentionally “effing” their own lives.
I know that everyone is not perpetually happy all of the time, and most people don’t laugh when a random brick falls out of the sky and lands on top of their foot. In fact, I would be extremely worried if someone did laugh in a situation like that.
I also understand that some people feel FMyLife.com makes them thankful that their life is not as bad as others’, or makes them know they are not the only ones going through a rough period. And, lets be honest, a lot of stuff on that Web site is pretty hilarious.
I do feel that there is something bad to be said about always focusing on negativity, and FMyLife.com is the negative mother ship.
There’s a bright side too: There is not only an FMyLife.com, but an LMyLife.com as well. For all you abbreviation illiterates out there, the “L” stands for Love.