Enjoy the Disconnect

I'm back! 24 hours of social media silence...that I voluntarily extended to 48 hours. (I did check my email on my phone once yesterday, but that's it.)

And I was right...I SURVIVED! And, it felt great!

I was greeted by 59 emails, none of which were all that important. I think I deleted at least 15 without even opening them, looked at another 10 more, responded to two or three, left the rest sitting in my inbox.

I only had ONE notification on facebook! (There were others that FB decided not to "notify" me about-- I think it was trying to help me in my quest-- but only the number "1" appeared in that little red box.)

Nothing brings you down to Earth faster and reminds you of your truly insignificant place in the universe than signing back on to Facebook after 48 hours and seeing that no one really missed you while you were gone.  I think it's a good thing to remember-- I need to live my life to live it and enjoy it, not to post about it on Facebook and see what other people think of it.  I think too many of us live with our noses glued to our laptops/smartphones waiting for someone to notice us. A short two days showed me that I'm getting dangerously close to being one of those people.

There are a million things to do other than sitting at the computer and scrolling on your smartphone! I did a bunch of them this weekend, and it felt great! I woke up and meditated with the most intoxicating breeze on Saturday morning.  Then, I went to an amazing yoga workshop on arm balances, and I did things I didn't know were possible-- it was exciting and felt great! (Pictures to follow...we'll focus on some specific poses in weeks to come) I cleaned the kitchen and went through the mail.  I had dinner with the Husband's grandma on Saturday night, and we got to spend Sunday with my grandparents-- mass, breakfast, wedding pictures, chatting-- my spirit was happy when I left! Spent the evening in my backyard raking leaves and enjoying the weather last night.  Then I fell asleep next to my Husband cheering for his Packers. Perfect.

And I know myself. There were at least 10 times that I saw my laptop sitting in the living room and thought, "I'll just check my facebook while I wait for him to come downstairs," or "I can check twitter while my tea is brewing."  Those are the times that "just checking facebook" would have extended into an hour of nothingness. Look at everything I did instead!

I ENJOYED BEING DISCONNECTED, and I was a little sad to break the silence today  I think that too many of us use social media to brag about our own lives, or compare what we know/do/say/think to that of others to make ourselves feel better about our own position.  That is all about ego.

My challenge, and what I challenge all of you with as well, is to stop. To disconnect from that ego-stroking and time wasting.  Because every moment of time we are wasting is a bit of our lives that we are wasting.  And comparing ourselves to others never truly honors the people that we are-- all it does is highlight inadequacies, either in ourselves or in others.  Challenge yourself, as I am challenging myself, to be happy with my life (and myself!) as it is, and to enjoy every moment!

"If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time, not tomorrow or next year." 

~Thomas Dreier~

~Namaste~