February 10, 2016
My wife and I have been talking about putting our phones down. Sometimes that is an easy thing to do and other times it is very difficult.
We live in an interesting age where we consume media throughout each day. Never in history did we consume information like we do in 2016. What is happening is interesting. The amount of knowledge readily available since the conception of the internet is remarkable.
Between the birth of the world and 2003, there were five exabytes of information created. We [now] create five exabytes every two days. See why it’s so painful to operate in information markets?” – Google CEO Erik Schidt (2011 Huffington post article)
We live in an interesting time in history; this statistic gives some framework to the reality of the massive amount of information that is readily available each and every day.
Yet how does this affect our day to day? (QUESTIONS— you have to be asking questions constantly)
How do I respond to all this readily available technology?
Do I use it to my benefit? Or detriment?
Do I acknowledge that I have an endless supply of potential solutions at my fingertips for almost any problem I could experience?
Or do I simply go to my social media sights and think of how lame my life is compared to that girl wearing the perfect clothes with the fake body??
Or do I just consume as many cat videos as I possibly can each and every day to numb the pain of my own real life….
Or do I attempt to create content and add to the discussion??
The internet is not bad.
Cell phones are not bad.
Money is not good or bad.
It is what we do with these things that affect us.
Are we in charge of them or are they in charge of us!??!?
I love being “plugged in” and “connected” through the web…. yet I also love when I am being present with people and fully engaged in whatever is happening in real life that I forget to look at my phone. It is the best feeling!!!
Tonight I sat with my 15 month old daughter as she played in the tub. Typically I am half engaged in this activity. You know, present but not. Typically I play a little, then catch up on my instagram feed or check if anyone read my blog yesterday, cause ultimately my value is based on how many likes I get on my facebook post. 😉 ….so tonight I played. I lined up the toys on the edge of the tub and flicked them in the water. Nuelle, my daughter, laughed and splashed. We had fun.
It was far more enjoyable being present in that moment rather than checking out while she entertains herself. YES — there has to be a BALANCE with it all. The day to day can be tiring and a little cell phone check-out is nice once in a while, but what if we started to check ourselves a little. What if we started to engage with our surroundings again. Don’t get rid of your phone all together, simply take a small step and adjust. The reason change seems so hard most of the time is because we expect far to much to quickly.
Take a moment today not looking at a four inch screen. I know it may feel a little weird at times, but try it out.
This.
*no workout update today — still major back issues… we will get back at it soon.
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