Penny, of course letting your community know about your health struggles is not 'venting.' It allows us all to pray for you!
I LOVE to vent, but I try never to press 'send' afterwards!
I think that part of the problem with venting on a public forum is that a posting doesn't convey the tone of a person's message. Someone might intend to be slightly snarky or sarcastic, but it comes across to another person as terribly negative. I have learned this the hard way, through being misconstrued and attacked for something I didn't mean to convey. Now I always try to 'stick with the facts, ma'am!'
Thanks for the reminder about staying positive, always the best place to be, especially in 'public'!