Sometimes You Have to Clean House to See Who Was Really Standing Beside You

There’s something funny happening in the cannabis community right now.

Maybe it’s happening in your circle, too.

People who have been doing this long enough are starting to look around and ask some uncomfortable questions:

Who are my friends? Who actually supports me? Who is genuine? And who has been standing beside me with a smile while secretly hoping I fall?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because, strangely enough, I keep seeing other people in the community going through the exact same thing.

Different people. Different situations. Different parts of the industry.

But somehow…the same story.

People are reevaluating their friendships. They’re examining their followers. They’re questioning people they once trusted. They’re realizing that having a huge audience doesn’t necessarily mean having a great audience.

And honestly?

I get it.

Because I’m doing the same thing.

I’m cleaning house.

Not because I suddenly hate people.

Not because I think everybody is against me.

And definitely not because this is about one particular person.

It isn’t.

There are simply too many people out there who seem to thrive on drama, negativity, jealousy, division and sabotage. Some people seem to have made spreading bad energy into a full-time job.

And I’ve finally reached the point where I’m asking myself:

Why am I allowing these people into my space?

I DON’T NEED ANOTHER FOLLOWER

For years, we’ve been taught that numbers matter.

More followers.

More friends.

More likes.

More views.

More people on your list.

But I’m starting to look at that completely differently.

I don’t care about having thousands of people following me if half of them are carrying negative energy into my world.

What good is a massive following if you have to constantly wonder who is secretly rooting against you?

Anybody can accept everybody.

Anybody can build a giant friend list.

Anybody can chase numbers.

But building a quality community?

That’s different.

I would rather have 500 real ones than 50,000 people who are watching just to wait for me to screw up.

The people I want around me are the people who are genuinely happy when somebody else succeeds.

They celebrate another person’s accomplishments instead of becoming jealous.

They support instead of sabotage.

They encourage instead of criticize.

They help instead of hinder.

They understand that somebody else’s success doesn’t take anything away from their own.

Those are my people.

Those are the people I want beside me.

MISERY REALLY DOES LOVE COMPANY

There’s an old saying:

Misery loves company.

The older I get, the more truth I see in it.

Some people are so unhappy with their own lives that somebody else’s happiness actually bothers them.

Think about that.

You can be doing absolutely nothing to them, minding your own business, working on your goals, building your brand, helping other people and enjoying your life—and somehow your happiness becomes offensive to somebody.

They don’t want to see you succeed.

They don’t want to see you grow.

They don’t want to see you surrounded by good people.

They want you frustrated.

They want you angry.

They want you distracted.

And sometimes, they want to see you fail.

That’s when you have to recognize what you’re dealing with.

Because a person who spends their time spreading negativity isn’t taking something away from you.

They are revealing something about themselves.

THE WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

One of the hardest lessons to learn is that not everybody who smiles at you is your friend.

Some people are incredibly good at pretending.

They’ll tell you they support you.

They’ll like your posts.

They’ll comment.

They’ll shake your hand.

They’ll tell you how much they love what you’re doing.

But underneath that surface can be jealousy, resentment, competition or an agenda you never saw coming.

That’s what makes these situations so frustrating.

You want to believe people are good.

I’ve always believed that people deserve the opportunity to show me who they are for themselves.

But I’m changing my approach.

Trust is no longer automatic.

Trust has to be earned.

And once somebody demonstrates that they can’t be trusted, I’m not going to keep giving them opportunity after opportunity to prove it again.

Life is too short.

NEGATIVITY IS CONTAGIOUS

Here’s something else I’ve had to admit to myself:

These people have been affecting me.

And I don’t like that.

I can tell myself all day long that I shouldn’t care.

I can say, “Ignore them.”

I can say, “Don’t let them get under your skin.”

But when you repeatedly encounter negativity, eventually some of it starts sticking to you.

And that’s exactly what I want to stop.

I don’t want somebody else’s miserable attitude changing my mood.

I don’t want jealous people occupying space in my head.

I don’t want drama interfering with my creativity.

I don’t want anonymous reports, negativity, personal attacks or attempts at sabotage becoming distractions from the things I’m actually trying to accomplish.

Why give somebody that kind of power?

They don’t deserve it.

SO I’M CLEANING HOUSE

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going through my accounts.

And yes, people are going to disappear.

Some will be deleted.

Some will be blocked.

And some may eventually wonder what happened.

The answer is simple:

I’m protecting my peace.

This isn’t about follower counts anymore.

This isn’t about trying to make everybody happy.

This isn’t about keeping somebody around because deleting them might cost me a follower.

If someone brings nothing but negativity into my world, why would I keep giving them a front-row seat?

I’m not running a popularity contest.

I’m building a community.

And there’s a difference.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

I want the people around me to understand something:

When you support another person, you don’t become smaller.

When somebody else gets a win, you haven’t lost.

When another creator gets attention, it doesn’t mean there isn’t enough attention left for you.

When another business succeeds, it doesn’t mean yours can’t succeed too.

There is room for all of us.

That’s the mentality I want in my circle.

I want people who understand that we are stronger together.

People who share opportunities.

People who promote each other.

People who recommend each other.

People who celebrate each other’s victories.

People who can look at somebody else’s success and say:

“Hell yeah! Good for them!”

Those are the real ones.

And those are the people I’m surrounding myself with.

AND IF YOU’RE STILL HERE…

So here’s the funny part.

When this great cleanout is finished, some people will still be here.

And if you are one of them?

Congratulations.

You made the cut.

😂

If you’re still on my Facebook after I’ve gone through everything, you can take that as a pretty good sign that I consider you one of the people who brings something positive to the table.

You’re not there because I need another number.

You’re there because I believe you’re genuine.

You’re there because I see you supporting people.

You’re there because you understand what this community is supposed to be about.

And if somebody gets deleted or blocked?

Well…

Maybe that’s an opportunity for some self-reflection.

Instead of getting angry about being removed from somebody’s social media, maybe ask yourself why you were removed.

Maybe the problem isn’t always everybody else.

Sometimes we have to look in the mirror.

THIS IS BIGGER THAN ME

And that’s ultimately why I wanted to write about this.

Because I don’t think I’m the only person feeling this way.

I think a lot of people are reaching a breaking point.

Creators.

Business owners.

Growers.

Reviewers.

Vendors.

Community members.

People who have spent years building something they care about are finally realizing that protecting what they’ve built is just as important as building it.

And sometimes protecting your community means making difficult decisions about who gets access to it.

That doesn’t make you cruel.

It doesn’t make you arrogant.

It doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten where you came from.

Sometimes it simply means you’ve finally learned that your peace has value.

KEEP SMILING

So to the real ones:

Keep smiling.

Keep creating.

Keep supporting.

Keep helping each other.

Keep celebrating the victories.

Keep lifting people up.

Keep enjoying your life.

Because one of the best ways to defeat negativity is refusing to become negative yourself.

Don’t let somebody else’s bitterness turn you bitter.

Don’t let their jealousy make you jealous.

Don’t let their hatred make you hateful.

And whatever you do…

Don’t let the people who want to see you fail become the reason you stop succeeding.

Let them talk.

Let them complain.

Let them watch.

Let them wonder.

You keep moving.

Because while they’re busy trying to tear people down, we’re going to keep building.

And that’s the difference between us.

I’m not interested in collecting people anymore.

I’m interested in surrounding myself with real ones.

So if you’re one of those people who genuinely wants to see others win, congratulations.

You’re exactly where you belong.

And if you’re somebody who spends your days spreading negativity, creating drama, sabotaging other people’s work, or pretending to support people while secretly hoping they fail…

Well, you might want to enjoy the view while you still have it.

The great cleanout has officially begun.

And this time, I’m choosing quality over quantity.

Real recognizes real.

And the rest?

Can find the door.

If the world is watching our cannabis community, what are we showing them?

I was born eight years too late.

Not too late for disco. Not too late for the mullet. And thankfully, not too late to avoid having to explain to my children why I ever thought certain fashion choices were a good idea.

I was born eight years too late for Woodstock.

The original Woodstock in 1969 has become almost mythical. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered together for music, freedom, self-expression, and a whole lot of marijuana and other substances.

But when you watch the footage and listen to the stories from that historic weekend, one thing seems to stand out above everything else:

Love and peace.

People were packed together by the thousands, yet somehow the idea was that everyone was there together.

Different people. Different backgrounds. Different opinions.

One community.

Now fast-forward thirty years.

Woodstock ’99 was supposed to be a celebration of music and culture—a modern continuation of the original spirit.

Instead, the festival in Rome, New York became infamous for violence, destruction, sexual assaults, fires and chaos.

By the end, parts of the festival grounds were literally burning.

That’s quite a departure from peace and love.

And lately, I can’t help but wonder:

Are we watching a smaller version of that transformation happen inside our own cannabis community?

Before anybody gets defensive, hear me out.

I’m not talking about one person.

I’m not writing this because of one argument, one disagreement, one bad interaction, or one individual who pissed me off.

If this were about one person, this wouldn’t be an article.

This is about a pattern I’ve seen often enough, involving enough people, that I believe it’s worth stopping and talking about.

I’m talking about a large enough percentage of our community displaying enough negativity, hostility, personal attacks, jealousy, arguing and disrespect that it deserves our attention.

And I want to be very clear about something else:

I’m not saying this is the majority.

Not even close.

There are some absolutely incredible people in this community.

People with huge hearts.

People who genuinely care about other people.

People who help without expecting anything in return.

People who celebrate somebody else’s success instead of becoming jealous of it.

People who reach out when somebody is struggling.

People who donate their time, their money, their products and their energy because they genuinely believe in this plant and the people surrounding it.

Those people are the reason I’m still here.

They’re the reason I continue writing.

They’re the reason I continue creating.

They’re the reason I continue putting my own time and money into this community.

And they’re the reason I don’t plan on quitting.

But I’m going to be honest with you.

Lately, I’m scared.

I’ve spent the last couple of years becoming invested in this community. I’ve met people I genuinely care about. I’ve made friendships I never expected to make. I’ve discovered incredible growers, breeders, artists, entrepreneurs, advocates and patients.

I’ve also seen something I wasn’t expecting.

A level of nastiness, hostility, personal attacks, jealousy, arguing and downright disrespect that has made me stop and ask myself:

What the hell are we doing?

At one point, I honestly believed that the overwhelming majority of people involved in this community were good-hearted people.

Ninety-something percent.

Maybe I’m naïve.

Maybe I was wearing cannabis-colored glasses.

But lately, I’m not so sure.

And again, I’m not talking about one person.

I’m talking about enough people and enough behavior that it has actually made me question whether I want to continue participating.

That’s a scary thought for me because I love this community.

And that’s exactly why I’m writing this.

Because if I didn’t care, I’d just leave.

I’d shut down the keyboard, put away the camera, stop writing for The Plug’s Pages, and say, “Good luck, everybody. I’m going home.”

But I’m not doing that.

At least not yet.

Because there are still too many good people here worth fighting for.

And if even half of this community—or something close to it—is made up of decent, caring, genuine people who actually want to see one another succeed, then we still have something worth saving.

We’re Representing More Than Ourselves

Here’s something I think every person involved in cannabis needs to remember:

The world is watching us.

Not just cannabis consumers.

Everybody.

Our posts are public.

Our arguments are public.

Our comments are public.

Our behavior is public.

And whether we like it or not, people who aren’t part of this community are forming opinions about cannabis by watching the people who use it.

That’s a pretty big responsibility.

We’ve spent decades trying to convince society that cannabis doesn’t turn people into lazy, irresponsible, unproductive stereotypes.

We’ve fought for legalization.

We’ve fought for medical access.

We’ve fought for criminal justice reform.

We’ve fought to prove that cannabis users can be successful business owners, parents, professionals, artists, caregivers, entrepreneurs and productive members of society.

We’ve said that cannabis can help people.

So let’s show them.

If someone takes a peek inside the cannabis community and the first thing they see is people screaming at each other, tearing each other down, spreading negativity and publicly fighting over every little disagreement, what exactly do you think they’re going to conclude?

They’re probably not going to say:

“Wow! What a warm and welcoming community. I want to be part of that!”

They’re more likely going to say:

“Holy crap. Maybe Reefer Madness had a sequel.”

And that’s the problem.

We cannot complain about stereotypes while simultaneously giving people ammunition to reinforce them.

We Don’t Have to Like Everybody

Here’s another revolutionary concept:

You don’t have to like everybody.

Seriously.

You don’t.

There are people in this community I probably wouldn’t invite over for Thanksgiving.

And that’s okay.

There are people who annoy me.

There are people who disagree with me.

There are people whose opinions make me want to stare at my phone for five minutes wondering, “Did this person really just type that?”

But disagreement doesn’t have to become war.

We can disagree without becoming enemies.

We can compete without trying to destroy one another.

We can criticize something without attacking the person behind it.

And we can simply decide:

“You know what? I don’t really care for that person.”

Then keep scrolling.

It’s free.

Facebook doesn’t charge extra for it.

The Domino Effect

One of the biggest things we don’t think about enough is the ripple effect of our words.

Let’s say somebody posts something you don’t like.

You leave a nasty comment.

Maybe you think it’s funny.

Maybe you think it’s justified.

Maybe you hit “Post” and forget about it thirty seconds later.

But the person on the other side of that screen may not forget.

Maybe they’re already having a horrible day.

Maybe they’re dealing with problems at home.

Maybe they’re struggling financially.

Maybe they’re questioning themselves.

Maybe they’re simply exhausted.

Now your comment becomes one more negative thing they have to carry.

They get angry.

They take that anger home.

They snap at their spouse.

Their spouse gets angry.

Now they’re arguing.

The kids hear it.

Someone goes to bed upset.

And all of it started with a comment from a stranger on Facebook.

That’s the domino effect.

You may never know what your words set in motion.

But here’s the beautiful part:

The domino effect works in the other direction too.

Maybe somebody is having the worst day they’ve had in months.

And then they open Facebook.

They see your comment.

“Hey, hope you’re doing okay. Keep your head up.”

Maybe somebody sends them a funny meme.

Maybe someone compliments their work.

Maybe somebody simply says:

“Great post!”

That tiny moment of kindness might be exactly what they needed.

Maybe it changes their entire day.

Maybe it gives them enough encouragement to keep going.

Maybe they go home and treat their family better because somebody treated them better.

You may never know.

That’s the crazy thing about kindness.

You don’t always get to see where it goes.

And Yes… I’m Guilty Too

Before anybody starts thinking OG Strain is standing on some imaginary cannabis-community mountaintop handing out commandments:

Nope.

I’m guilty too.

I’ve said things I shouldn’t have said.

I’ve reacted when I should have ignored something.

I’ve allowed frustration to influence my words.

I’ve made mistakes.

I’m human.

And that’s actually part of the point.

This isn’t an article telling everyone else how they need to behave.

It’s a reminder to all of us—including me.

Before we hit send…

Before we hit post…

Before we leave that comment…

Maybe we should take five seconds and ask ourselves:

“Do I really need to say this?”

And if the answer is no?

Congratulations.

You just saved yourself an argument.

You’re welcome.

Forgiveness Isn’t Weakness

I’m probably in the minority in this community when it comes to how openly I talk about my Christian beliefs.

But there’s something from my faith that I believe could solve a whole lot of problems around here:

Love.

And I’m not talking about the Hallmark-card version of love.

Real love is difficult.

Real love means forgiveness.

It means giving somebody another chance.

It means trying to understand that someone may be going through something you know absolutely nothing about.

It means recognizing that a person who hurt you may not be proud of what they did.

And sometimes, love means accepting an apology.

On the other side of that coin, if you are the one who screwed up, there’s nothing wrong with saying:

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Those three words can be incredibly difficult to say.

Our pride gets in the way.

We convince ourselves that apologizing makes us weak.

It doesn’t.

Sometimes the strongest thing a person can do is admit they screwed up.

And if you believe, as I do, that pride can become destructive, then maybe we should stop treating pride like it’s some kind of superpower.

Being too proud to apologize isn’t strength.

Sometimes it’s simply a refusal to grow.

So Where Do We Go From Here?

I don’t want to leave this community.

I don’t want to stop writing.

I don’t want to stop creating.

I don’t want to stop supporting the people who are doing incredible things.

And I certainly don’t want to abandon the people I’ve come to genuinely love and respect.

Because those people matter to me.

You matter to me.

If you’re one of the people who shows up for others…

If you’re the person who congratulates somebody instead of competing with them…

If you’re the person who helps somebody who is struggling…

If you’re the person who chooses kindness when negativity would be easier…

Thank you.

You’re the reason people like me keep fighting for this community.

But we need more of you.

And maybe that’s where we all come in.

Let’s think about what we say.

Let’s think about what we post.

Let’s think about the people on the other side of the screen.

Let’s remember that every person we interact with is carrying something we may know absolutely nothing about.

Let’s stop treating every disagreement like we’re entering the final round of the Cannabis Community Super Bowl.

Let’s stop tearing each other down.

Let’s stop assuming the worst about one another.

Let’s forgive more.

Let’s apologize more.

Let’s encourage more.

Let’s laugh more.

Let’s help more.

Let’s remember why we’re here in the first place.

Because despite all of our differences, there’s something that brought us together:

We love this plant.

We believe in its potential.

We believe in its benefits.

We believe people should be able to use it responsibly without being treated like criminals or stereotyped as worthless stoners.

But if that’s what we believe, then we have to prove it.

Not with arguments.

With our actions.

The cannabis community shouldn’t be known for who can yell the loudest.

It shouldn’t be known for who can destroy somebody’s reputation the fastest.

It shouldn’t be known for jealousy, bullying, infighting and endless online drama.

It should be known for compassion.

Creativity.

Entrepreneurship.

Healing.

Friendship.

Community.

And yes…

Love and peace.

Because maybe that’s the greatest thing we can do for cannabis itself.

Show the world that people who use this plant aren’t the stereotypes they’ve been told to fear.

Show them that we can build businesses.

Create art.

Raise families.

Help our neighbors.

Support one another.

Laugh together.

Disagree respectfully.

Forgive each other.

And still get shit done.

We are the cannabis community.

Whether we like it or not, we’re also part of cannabis’s public face.

So the next time you’re about to fire off that nasty comment…

Pause.

Take a breath.

Ask yourself whether it’s really worth it.

Because you never know what kind of domino you’re about to knock over.

And you never know what kind of domino you could knock over by doing the opposite.

Maybe instead of being the person who starts the next fire…

Be the person who puts one out.

Maybe instead of adding fuel…

Be the person who brings the water.

I was born eight years too late for Woodstock ’69.

But maybe we don’t have to be too late to bring back what it represented.

Maybe we can still choose love.

Maybe we can still choose peace.

Maybe we can still choose community.

Because at the end of the day, the world isn’t going to judge our cannabis community by what we say cannabis does for us.

They’re going to judge us by what they see us do.

So let’s give them something worth seeing.

Let the next thing this community catches fire for be LOVE—not each other.

The cannabis community is supposed to be many things.

It can be competitive. It can be loud. It can be opinionated. People are going to disagree about strains, brands, growers, products, events and just about everything else under the sun.

But at its best, a community is still a community.

That means there has to be some level of mutual respect.

And lately, there is something I have been thinking about—not because I want to start drama, and certainly not because I want to write a hit piece about anyone. In fact, the entire reason I am writing this without using a name is because I do not believe in publicly humiliating people for the sake of entertainment.

This is about a pattern.

There is a person in our cannabis community who, from what I and many others have witnessed, seems to have a negative comment for almost everybody.

Post about somebody? There is a negative comment.

Mention somebody’s accomplishment? There is a criticism.

Share something positive about a person in the industry? Somehow, here comes another insult, another complaint, another unnecessary shot.

And after watching this happen repeatedly, I have to ask a question:

If you genuinely dislike nearly everyone in a community, why are you trying so hard to be part of it?

That is not sarcasm. I honestly want to understand it.

Smoking cannabis alone does not automatically make us a community. Community requires people. Relationships. Shared experiences. Support. Respect. Even disagreement can be healthy—but there is a difference between having an opinion and making hostility your entire personality.

You do not have to like everyone. Nobody does.

You do not have to agree with everyone. Thank God, because if we all agreed on everything, we’d have no comments section and half of Facebook would immediately go out of business.

But if every conversation turns into an opportunity to insult somebody, attack somebody, embarrass somebody or remind the world how much you dislike somebody, eventually people have to ask what is really going on.

And before anyone misunderstands me, this article is not written from a place of hatred.

Actually, it is quite the opposite.

I believe people can be carrying pain that the rest of us cannot see. People can be dealing with difficult relationships, stressful circumstances, loneliness, trauma, personal struggles or things that happened long before we ever met them. None of us knows the entire story behind another person’s behavior.

That is one of the reasons I try not to judge people too quickly.

But understanding someone and excusing everything they do are not the same thing.

You can have compassion for someone while still setting boundaries.

You can feel sorry for someone’s struggles while also saying, “You do not get to use your pain as permission to mistreat everyone around you.”

That is where I think we sometimes get confused.

Kindness does not mean becoming somebody’s punching bag.

Acceptance does not mean accepting abuse.

Compassion does not mean pretending harmful behavior is harmless.

And free speech absolutely does not mean anyone else is required to provide an unlimited audience for repeated personal attacks.

I believe strongly in free speech. That is one reason I have chosen not to block people simply because they disagree with me or say something I do not like. I do not want to surround myself with people who only tell me what I want to hear.

Criticism is part of life.

But there is a huge difference between constructive criticism and constantly tearing down the people around you.

One helps people grow.

The other just spreads misery.

So if you are reading this and thinking, “I wonder if OG Strain is talking about me?”—well, I am not going to name anyone.

But here is what I will say:

If you know that you regularly attack people unprovoked, insult people who have done nothing to you, and find yourself unable to say something positive about almost anyone in the community, then maybe this article is worth thinking about.

Not because you should be ashamed.

Because you can change.

Try being nice.

Seriously. Just try it.

Try congratulating somebody when they succeed.

Try scrolling past something instead of attacking the person who posted it.

Try disagreeing without making it personal.

Try giving someone the same grace you probably hope people will give you when you are having a bad day.

You might be surprised by what happens.

Because the energy we put into the world has a way of coming back around. Call it karma, the law of attraction, cause and effect, or just common sense—if you constantly put negativity into every room you enter, eventually people are going to expect negativity whenever you arrive.

And then you may begin to wonder why everyone is negative toward you.

Sometimes, we have to look honestly at what we are putting out there.

If you put out kindness, kindness is more likely to find you.

If you put out respect, people are more likely to respect you.

If you put out constant hostility, insults and bitterness, eventually that is the energy that will surround you.

And at that point, you cannot blame everyone else forever.

The truth is, life is too short to wake up every day angry at people who may not even know you are angry at them.

It is too short to spend your time searching for another person to criticize.

It is too short to be miserable for sport.

And it is definitely too short to become known in a community primarily as the person everybody expects to start a fight in the comments.

That is not a legacy.

That is exhausting.

The cannabis community already has enough people outside of it judging us, criticizing us and telling us who we are supposed to be. We do not need to spend every day doing the same thing to each other.

We can disagree.

We can debate.

We can have different opinions.

We can even occasionally get on each other’s nerves—because let’s be honest, if you’re in this industry long enough, somebody is eventually going to annoy the hell out of you.

But we should still remember that there are human beings behind the usernames.

And if someone is genuinely struggling, I hope they seek support and allow trusted people to help them. Statements about not wanting to be alive should always be taken seriously, not used as a weapon in an argument or dismissed as “just drama.”

There is no shame in needing help.

There is no shame in changing.

And there is no shame in admitting that the way you have been treating people is not the way you want to continue living.

Second chances matter.

Growth matters.

But growth begins when we are willing to look in the mirror.

So this is not a hit piece.

This is an invitation.

To the person who feels this article might be about them: You do not have to leave the community. You do not have to become best friends with everybody. You do not even have to suddenly agree with people you dislike.

Just try being kind.

Try it for a day.

Then another.

And see what happens.

Because if you truly cannot find anything you like about anyone in a community, if every person is an enemy and every success deserves an insult, then maybe the problem is not the entire community.

Maybe it is time to look inward.

And if you are someone who recognizes exactly who I am talking about without me ever having to say a name, then I hope you take something from this article too.

Do not turn this into another opportunity for gossip.

Do not attack that person.

Do not send them hateful messages.

That would completely miss the point.

The answer to negativity is not more negativity.

The answer is accountability, boundaries, compassion and, whenever possible, growth.

At the end of the day, we are all putting something into this community.

The question is:

What are you putting into it?

Because eventually, whether we realize it or not, people remember how we made them feel.

So if you are going to be part of a community, be part of it.

Support someone.

Encourage someone.

Disagree without destroying someone.

And when you are tempted to leave another cruel, unnecessary comment, maybe stop for just one second and ask yourself:

“What am I really putting out into the world?”

Then choose something better.

I promise you—kindness is a lot easier to carry than hate.