The Facebook Phenomenon

Almost everyday, one of my "friends" on Facebook has a birthday. My typical response to seeing it's someone's birthday is write a little message on their wall and be done. I've often wondered if the 30 seconds it took to write it really means anything.

Last week was my birthday. Like most of you, I've found that as I get older, birthdays don't mean much more than you have to be one year older, and I'm beginning to realize how much I took being in my early 20's for granted. The day before my birthday, I got some disappointing news. Because of that, I wasn't feeling too excited on my birthday. But then I got on Facebook, and holy cow, I had so many happy birthday wishes. It totally brightened my day to see how many people took a little bit of time to write on my wall.

Some of these people I haven't spoken to since high school graduation, yet they still wish me a happy birthday. I was reminded of how much I have to be grateful for, how I can't let this little bit of bad news affect my day, and what great people I've met over the course of my life. What would I ever do without the Facebook Phenomenon?