I am giving it up!!!

I am an addict to social media and the time has come where I have to make a radical change. I have deleted Social Media from my devices, because I don’t have the self-control to stay away from it. When I am tired I go towards the short videos that have no purpose other than numb my mind. When I have doubts about myself, I go on Facebook to see how other people are doing and I live vivaciously through them. When I am insecure, I look at dumb things people have done. All are ways to escape. I am not saying that we don’t need downtime, and for others this might not be an issue, but for me it is. I need to switch to more life giving downtime activities: reading a good novel, watching a TED talk, having coffee with a friend, playing a game of cards.

Life can be so overwhelming for us, the increase in access to technology, the world affairs that are always at our beck and call, the stresses of our lives with so little downtime; this all can’t be good for us. When does too much technology become harmful? When do we need to again take control of our lives and not be controlled by it? Don’t get me wrong, I think our current technology is amazing. I get to communicate with family in Germany. I get to zoom with people all over the world. I get to search out information at a moment’s notice…. All good things. What is not good is that I am always just one swipe away from the disasters of this world, the murders around the corner, the death of innocent lives, the drama of politics, and yes, sometimes the notifications of people I know.

Maybe it is my age, maybe it is the lack of capacity to keep up with things, but I need to give it up! I need to give up the constant bombardment of social media, the constant noise that wants to have control of my life.

So I am giving it up. I will still have access to Social Media via the internet, but it will no longer be controlling me. Maybe I will be more present? Maybe instead of having my phone out in the grocery store while waiting in line, I can have a conversation. Maybe instead of swiping through things while waiting for a meeting to start, I can pray for the meeting to go well. Maybe instead of sitting after work and ‘relax’ in my chair, I can have a deeper conversation, journal, exercise…..

As we enter the last week before Christmas, I wonder if I will be more present to the amazing grace of Christmas: Immanuel - God with us. I am sure that if He would come today, God would not announce Himself through social media, He would not be in the headlines of our news, but He again would come into the personal sphere of people, come to build real relationships, make his dwelling among us. Today, I want to keep an eye open for God moving into our neighborhoods - and that can only happen if I don’t have my nose in social media. Merry Christmas!